


Gotham High

by sweetrango



Category: Batman (Movies - Nolan), Batman - All Media Types, The Dark Knight
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, Gotham City High School, Gotham High, Joker x Harley Quinn - Freeform, Nolanverse, Pre-Batman Bruce Wayne, Young Joker, mad love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:55:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 44,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22026700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetrango/pseuds/sweetrango
Summary: Harleen has always walked through the same shitty halls of Gotham High. With graduation only a year away, she thought she’d seen it all. But nothing could have prepared her for the mysterious new kid— Joe.
Relationships: Harleen Quinzel/Jason Todd, Joker (DCU)/Harleen Quinzel
Comments: 2
Kudos: 59





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve always wanted to try writing about a Gotham High AU! And I love Harley and Joker! Things are a bit inspired by TDK, but take it as you may. Enjoy!

The last school blew up. And I’m not exaggerating or anything— someone had put explosives in the boiler room and BOOM!  
It was on the news for weeks. Mom had GCN on loop day and night. The fake jaunty voice of Mike Engle filtered through the air from the living room at all hours. Luckily, no one died. The bomb went off on the weekend. I will never forget that day. I was in middle school in the nurses office when that happened. I was supposed to go straight to the principle’s office because I punched a girl in the face, but that never happened after the news dropped.  
A frown tugged at my lips as I stared down at my backpack, ready to go in front of me.  
It was time to go back to the new and improved Gotham High. I didn’t want to be late to first day of classes, but I needed to make sure I looked decent. So I quickly glanced in the mirror, making a face at myself— instantly regretting my outfit choice of a short skirt and ankle boots. It was probably raining out and I’d look like an idiot. Whatever.  
With a huff, I skipped into the kitchen to grab a doughnut before heading out.  
“See ya later, Ma!” I shouted into the living room where she probably sat drunk as hell.  
“Be careful Harleen!” She surprisingly called back.  
I rolled my eyes at that and slammed the door behind me. 

-

The school was huge. Bigger than the last version, and interestingly gothic in architecture. The sign “GOTHAM HIGH” loomed over my head as I arrived at the steps. The first thing I did was take out my phone to text Pammy. 

_Hey girl, I just got here. Ready to die again, honestly. Where are you tho?_

My phone quickly buzzed in a reply. 

_Harls! I’m in botany right now. Can we meet at lunch? Same spot._

I couldn’t help but to release a sigh, hoping to see her before lunch. But that’s fine. I had to get to psychology anyway.  
As I started to climb the steps, my name was suddenly called: 

“Harleen!” 

I swung my head around to see Jason Todd standing there waving me down. What was he doing here? My eyes widened but I grinned nonetheless and ran over to him. “Jason! I thought you were going to that fancy prep school with Bruce and Ozzy?” 

Jason simply shrugged and let his bright blue eyes smile at me. “Changed my mind. Thought a transfer was in place after two years at that country club.” He smirked at that and gestured for us to go inside once thunder was heard overhead. 

“I’m happy to see you, it’s been a while.” I said honestly. We had gone to the same gymnastics studio while growing up but ever since the start of high school we had gone our separate ways. 

“Yeah I know. We should hang out again sometime.” He paused, then added, “Oh that reminds me, Bruce is having a huge party this weekend. Would you wanna come with me?” 

I could feel my cheeks light up in blush at his invitation. I glanced away to push my glasses up the bridge of my nose more before nodding. “Yeah. Sure. That sounds fun, Jason. Just... just text me.”  
I ended up flashing him a smile and he grew one too in return. 

-

Psychology was perfect. The class was everything I thought it was. And the invitation from Jason was making me feel even more giddy than usual.  
I had even gotten to see Johnny Crane again, and he was one of my closest guy friends. He had explained how he had made this funky chemical mixture over the summer that would make people see weird shit— and that he was super proud of it. His excitement made me giggle and now I couldn’t stop, giggling all the way to the cafeteria to find Pammy.  
When she saw me and my pink face she rolled her eyes at me and flipped her long auburn hair. “Who got you laughing?” 

“Johnny! I missed him so much.” I chuckled, plopping down at the table. “I’m just all excited today cause Jason kinda asked me out.”

Pam’s eyes widened and she gave me one of those _tell me more smirks._ “I thought you wanted to die?”

“That was earlier!” I joked. “Anyway, I guess Jason transferred schools. So now he’s here with us. And he just so happened to bump into me. He invited me to a party Bruce is having.”

Pam narrowed her eyes. “Why didn’t I get invited? God dammit Bruce.” She pouted and dropped her cheek into her hand. “I bet Selina got invited.” 

“What about me?” Right then, Selina Kyle slinked up to the table with her tray in her hands. She took a seat right next to me, reaching out to give me a quick squeeze. 

“Bruce’s party.” I replied, hugging her back. “Are you going?” 

“Of course!” She grinned, licking her lips seductively. “Old Brucey loves me.” She flicked her eyes over to Pamela, who simply huffs. “Jealous Pammy?” 

Pamela gave her the finger which made me giggle even more. 

“So anyway,” Selina continued, “I heard there is this strange new guy in our grade. There’s already a bunch of rumors about him.”

“Like what?” Pammy asked, lightly tracing her pencil on the green notebook in front of her. 

Selina leaned in closer. Her eyes sparked with excitement. “I heard he was once in the military. But because of bad behavior he was kicked out. I also heard that he’s like super old. Like he’s already twenty-something.”

“Oooh.” I murmured, interested already. 

“Yeah,” she continued, “I also heard that he just got out of juvey. Don’t know what’s true or what’s not.”

-

Next class was Anatomy. Now this one I didn’t care too much about. Stomach? Don’t care. Intestines? Nada. Brain? Yes, please. So at least that was my only motivation I had. But I still dragged myself into the classroom. It was quite full already, and everyone already had a place to sit.  
I huffed, blowing my blonde bangs briefly off my forehead as I scanned the room.  
Eddie Nygma waved at me when he saw me, and I waved back happily, but ugh— he was already sitting next to Victor Fries.  
But then, that’s when I saw him.  
New kid. Back of the room, on the left.  
He was tall, and I immediately concluded that he had to be over twenty years like Selina said.  
He was standing at the two person table in the corner with a pencil in his hand poking at some sort of dead thing on a dish. There was one seat open next to him. 

“Quinzel, please pick a seat.” The teacher instructed quite loudly, and I huffed again, deciding to just go right over. 

The new kid didn’t even notice me at first. He was so engrossed with the frog that sat on the dish. But when I took a seat on the stool, he finally glanced over his shoulder at me.  
He had green eyes. Or were they amber? I couldn’t tell, but they were dark. Like he hadn’t had enough sleep.  
“Do you have scissors?” Was the first thing he asked me. His voice was strange. Unique, I’d call it.  
I nodded. “Yes, why?” 

“Can I have them please?” 

When I didn’t move he sighed and sat up more to look at me with those dark eyes. “Pretty please? With a cherry on top?” 

Without thinking, I opened my bag and took out a pair of scissors to hand to him. 

“Thanks, sweetheart.” He smirked and instantly stabbed the frog with the scissors. I cringed in my seat, watching blood spurt out of the body. Obviously it wasn’t from class because it was still fresh. He must have found it himself. 

“What are you doing?” I finally asked him softly as the teacher began the stupid lesson of the day. 

“Playing scientist.” He replied, stabbing the frog again without mercy. Then he paused and looked up to me again. His eyes scanned me over for a second before his pink lips hooked into a perfect smirk. “What’s your name?” 

“Harleen.” I smiled, extending a hand for him to shake. But he didn’t take it, leaving me there awkwardly hanging. 

“ _Harley._ That’s pretty.” He turned back to the frog carcass. 

I frowned, crossing my arms. “My name is not Harley, it’s Harleen.” 

But he simply stuck out his tongue like a child. Okay then. Don’t like my name? Fine. Whatever. Screw you.  
I turned away annoyed, and took out my red notebook. 

“My name’s Joe.” 

I simply ignored him, turning my nose up towards the lecture.  
When he noticed my fustration, he simply grinned but didn’t say anymore. 

The class was boring as hell. The only thing interesting about it was... well, him. He cut the frog up until it was nothing but blood and guts. After he had nothing else to focus on, he would constantly tap his pencil on the table like he had anxiety or something. It was annoying, but I didn’t want to give him any attention.  
He even tried to light a cigarette but the teacher instantly yelled at him.  
Joe simply smirked to himself at that and stuck the cig in his mouth anyway, even if it wasn’t lit.  
His dark eyes wandered over to me, as I was scanning him over with disgust. I quickly glanced away, turning red and slumped in my seat.  
When the bell finally rang, I zoomed out of there before he could annoy me any more. Unfortunately, I didn’t see where I was going, and instantly bumped into Bane.  
Holy smokes. The guy was quadruple the size of any normal dude here and had eyes that could snap you in half if you just looked at him. Everyone thought he was on steroids or something. 

“Oh...hey...hey Bane. Sorry about that!” I tried to be friendly, but I was sweating bullets, taking a few steps backwards. “How was your, um, summer?” I plastered on a grin. 

He simply grumbled at me and trudged forward, making sure to clip me against the shoulder for good measure. Jerk-face. _Jeez._

I huffed, blowing my bangs up from my forehead and continued on myself. First day already over.


	2. Chapter 2

I couldn’t even get one word in when my face was smashed against the dining room table. If I was wearing my glasses they would have been broken. But that was the least of my worries.   
A rough hand grabbed a thick wad of my hair in its grasp to yank me standing once more. My cheek throbbed, and my lip couldn’t help but to tremble.   
He was outlined by the flickering TV, a dark figure was all I could see. His mouth growled, and lips tugged downwards into a scowl. “Apologize to daddy.”  
A hesitant beat was all it took for him to throw a punch at my face, surely causing a black eye to spurt.   
“I’m sorry daddy, I’m sorry.” I finally spit out, but the words were so shaky, I was afraid he wouldn’t understand what I was trying to say.   
He still had his fist gripping my hair, and he gave another little yank as he snarled, “Now get out of my sight Harleen.” 

I nodded and scurried to my room, rushing past Mum who was passed out on the couch. I slammed the door behind me and quickly locked it with shaky fingers.   
I dashed into the bathroom where I took out a towel to run it under the hot water. When it was hot enough, I pressed it to my aching face. Great, going to have a black eye for the second day of school.   
I sighed, trying not to choke on any sobs working their way up my throat. 

-

I managed to pile on the concealer around my bruised eye for the next day. I hoped to god no one would notice. I threw on a nice, crisp white blouse and did my hair up into a slick ponytail before leaving again.   
At least Psychology was my first class of the day, I would never miss that! 

In class the teacher proposed our first project of the year.   
“Interview someone interesting. Try to get into their heads.... find out what’s really going on in there. Now, of course you need to be respectful— the ones you pick are not going to be Arkham patients. But just interview them, get to know them.” That’s how she said it.   
I tapped my pencil against my lips in thought. Someone interesting? Well....

Joe was stooped under the table, sneakily trying to tie the shoelaces of one of the students shoes together. I simply rolled my eyes at that childish behavior and entered class to sit next to him. When he noticed me, he climbed back up onto his feet and plopped down on the stool with a triumphant smirk. “Hey Harley girl.” 

“Please call me Harleen.” I sighed, unamused by his antics. I wasn’t going to remind him a third time. 

He simply chuckled at that and leaned forward to sketch in his notebook. The tip of the pencil was forced so hard into the paper, back and forth—back and forth, I was surprised it wouldn’t snap.   
With sneaky eyes, I stretched my neck to peer down at his drawing.   
It was messy, like a child’s drawing.   
But no child would draw such a thing. There were what I’d call demons all over the paper, and eyeballs and grinning mouths— drawings of a mad man.   
He must have noticed my prying eyes because suddenly the pencil stopped and he muttered: “You have too much makeup on _Harleen_.”   
I nearly gasped at his words, not expecting him to say anything let alone that. And I didn’t like how he said my name. It sounded gross coming out of his mouth; I felt ashamed of it right then, like it was the ugliest name in the world.   
He slowly turned to look at me, dragging the pencil down the bag of his eye. “Right there.”  
Thats when I realized he was talking about my black eye. I thought I was able to cover it up nicely, but I guess not.   
With soft fingers, I touched my bruise and turned away.  
“Who did it?” He asked, turning back to his drawing. 

“My daddy.” The words barely escaped my mouth but I felt compelled to answer him. 

He was quiet for the rest of class, and I watched him draw until the bell rung. That’s when I decided that I would use him for my psychology project. 

-

“That new kid is so...”

“Weird?” Selina chimed in. 

“Interesting.” I finished. We were sitting on the bleachers while Pammy tried out for cheerleading.   
Selina sighed and rested her cheek on her hand. “Are you ready for Bruce’s party?”

“I guess so.” Honestly I hadn’t been thinking about it in the past few days. But it’ll be good for me to go. Besides, I’m going with Jason! He’s always been good to me.   
Right then, there was a VROOM of an engine, and a fancy sports car drove itself right onto the football field.   
“Holy shit.” Selina muttered, and we both stood up to see.   
A blonde boy stuck his head out of the window and called to Pamela.   
It was Ozzy Cobblepot.   
“What is he doing here?” Selina asked with a puzzled look. 

“And what is he doing calling Pammy?” I watched as Pamela skipped over to him and hang all over the window. Don’t tell me she was flirting with him?! That rich loser?! He went to the other academy with Bruce and Thomas Elliot— and speaking of, the young surgeon was in the back seat, rolling down his window too to talk to Pammy.   
Selina and I strolled over to see what was going on.   
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Selina asked, crossing her arms. 

“Oh calm down kitty,” Ozzy replied in his thick British accent, “we just popped over to pick up our favorite girl.” 

“Favorite girl?” I raised my eyes inquisitively. 

Pamela stood up and flipped her red hair over her shoulder. “That’s right. Both of these lovely guys are taking me to Bruce’s party.” She rounded the car to get to the passenger’s seat. “See you girls later.”   
With that, they zoomed off. 

“She’s just jealous that Bruce likes me.” Selina concluded, watching them leave with narrow eyes. 

I simply giggled. “She’s always been such a flirt, Selina, she can’t help it.”


	3. Chapter 3

No one was home. Which was good because I could get ready in peace. I decided to throw my hair up into two pigtails and redo my mascara, nothing too much. And finally I decided to slip on a casual pale blue dress with V-neck. If daddy ever saw me wear this he’d kill me for sure. But seeming that no one was home, I took the chance.   
Jason arrived outside of the apartment exactly at seven like promised. He had a motorcycle by his side.   
“Since when did you get that?” I exclaimed, looking it over with wide eyes. 

“Actually Bruce gave it to me for... for a birthday present.” He smiled innocently with a shrug. “Pretty cool, right?”

“Hell yeah. You god damn rich kids.” I rolled my eyes at him with a playful smirk. He got onto the bike and I slid on behind him. I instantly regretted wearing a dress but I could only guess he was ecstatic about it. I reached around him to grab onto his torso, his leather jacket feeling cold to the touch. Then we were off.   
The wealthy part of town was only fifteen minutes away so we were there in a jiffy. Jason escorted me up the large flight of steps into Wayne Manor, where a butler greeted us at the door.   
“Mister Todd,” the butler said, “it is nice to see you again. Welcome.” 

“Thanks Alfred.” He replied with a bright smile and we continued on. Bruce literally had a fucking ballroom in his house, so the party went on in there.   
Almost everyone from school and the academy were there, but I had a feeling that most of them snuck in without invitation. 

“Jason!” Bruce came up to us with two bottles of champagne in his hands and Selina by his side. He looked as dashing as ever, but also very tipsy. “So glad you came. And Harleen! Nice to see you again. You look beautiful.” 

“Thanks Bruce,” I blushed. 

“Don’t be too rough with her.” He teased to Jason who seemed unamused with his comment. Jason simply gave a plastered smile and hooked his arm around my waist to lead me to the dance floor. 

I couldn’t tell if he was blushing or if it was just the lights. But I definitely knew I was from his arm around me. “He gets weird when he’s drunk.” He muttered but I simply shrugged. 

“I don’t care. I know how it is.” Right then, Pamela, Ozzy, Thomas Elliot, Johnny Crane, and Eddie all appeared out of the plethora of people. We took this as a cue to get dancing like the rest of them. I felt like I hadn’t had this much fun in such a long time and soon I was giggling so much I felt like passing out. Selina was able to join us and her, Pammy and I all danced together to Toxic by Britney Spears which was such a throwback. The guys all laughed at us.   
Soon, everyone else seemed to get tired but I felt like I could go on forever. Luckily for them, that’s when the slow songs began playing. A lot of people left the center of the dance floor then, but Jason wasn’t concerned about leaving. He took me into his arms, holding me close without qualms. “I missed you Harleen.” He whispered. 

My cheeks burnt with blush again. I know we hadn’t seen each other in forever, but I didn’t know he liked me this much already. I kept my gaze over his shoulder, and that’s when I noticed Joe in the background. He was talking to Bruce, but it wasn’t a mutual conversation. Bruce was growing red in frustration at whatever Joe was telling him. I was trying to decipher what they were saying but it was impossible, and soon Joe glanced in my direction— our eyes locking.   
I quickly averted them, looking up to Jason instead. “I’m having a good night with you.” 

“Me too.” He smiled a warm smile and squeezed my hand. 

_“Echem.”_

Jason stopped swaying with me when I felt my shoulder being tapped. I turned to see Joe standing there with a grin on his face. “Mind if I steal a dance with your girl?” 

Jason raised an eyebrow but nodded politely. “Just get her back in one piece.” He joked, but the tone of his voice said he was being serious. 

“Don’t you worry.” Joe smiled, taking my hand in his and wrapping his other hand around my waist. He waited until Jason decided to walk away. Then he put his gaze back on me, those green-ish eyes sparkling. 

“Hello again _Harleen_.” 

Ugh. Hearing my name sent cold shivers down my spine. “Just call me Harley.” 

He smirked at that, but tried to keep humble, glancing away for a second. “Don’t you look....” he looked back to scan me over with those dark eyes, as if he was eating me up alive. “...simply divine. But take my advice you’d look better in red.” 

“Would I?” I raised an eyebrow at him, but I couldn’t help feeling pleased by his previous comment. 

He nodded. “How’s the eye?” 

I felt a little uncomfortable talking about such a thing, so I dropped my gaze to the ground.   
Joe simply hummed and placed a hand under my chin so that he could look into my eyes again. “And what did _daddy_ say about this?” 

He dropped his hand and briefly trailed it down my bare chest, outlining the V-neck. His touch made me blush all the more and I felt like Jason was going to appear any second to beat the shit out of him, but he never did. 

“He didn’t. He wasn’t home.” I murmured, slowly meeting my gaze with his. His dark eyes were burning with malicious intent. 

“Scandalous.” He smirked and placed his hand back to my waist. “By the way, I’ll help you with your psychology project.”

What? My eyes widened at that, snapping out of fantasy for a moment. “But I never said any—“ 

“Just agree pumpkin. I’ll meet you tomorrow outside of Arkham. Let’s say for one?” 

“Okay...” I had a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach. 

Joe spun me around before pulling me back into his arms. “Oh and one more thing; I’d be careful with bird brains like Todd...” At that, he took my shoulders and turned me towards Jason, who was currently dancing quite close to Barbra Gordon. Her hands traced down his chest slowly— god dammit, if only I could snap her little wrists. My eyes narrowed.   
Joe simply gave me a pat and strolled away.   
I found myself stomping over with clenched fists, and I nearly pushed her to the floor. “Jason. What are you doing?” 

He raised his eyebrows at me in innocence. “Dancing?” 

“With her!” I growled and seethed at Barbra, but she just smiled back to me.

“We’re just dancing, Harleen! It is a party after all.” She replied in her sweet voice. I wanted to punch her teeth out.   
I grabbed Jason by the sleeve and yanked him out of there. “I want to go home.” 

The night did not end how I expected it to be. I thought we might kiss or something, but I was so mad at him that I gave him the cold shoulder the whole time. He seemed sad about it and tried to apologize for upsetting me, but I didn’t want to hear it. Stupid Barbra. 

-

The next day I arrived in front of Arkham Asylum. It was nearly one, but Joe was no where in sight. Things were quiet despite the distant car horns and police sirens, and the large white building stood looming condescendingly. It didn’t scare me though like most kids; I always dreamed of working there someday with my future psychology degree. It would be perfect. I sighed in daydream, and plopped down on the sidewalk bench across the street. My phone gave a little buzz, so I glanced down at the screen but it was only Jason for the millionth time apologizing again. I heaved a sigh. 

“Have you ever been inside?” 

The voice shocked me to the core, and I turned to see Joe standing next to me looking at Arkham. 

I nodded. “I went on a few tours. It’s actually quite nice inside. I can see why some patients never want to leave.” 

Joe raised an eyebrow and swooped around to sit next to me. I could tell he was surprised by my response but he stayed silent. “Ya know, I had an uncle who was sent there before. He hated it. Stole a security guard’s pistol two days in and blew his brains out.” He stuck two fingers in his mouth and bent his thumb, reenacting the scene. 

My eyes widened at that. “I’m so sorry.” 

“Never apologize for something you didn’t do.” He muttered, staring off ahead of him for a minute as if he was lost in thought; but then he waved a hand in my direction. “Shouldn’t you be taking notes?” 

“Notes?” I questioned, but then remembered why we were here in the first place. “Oh yeah!”   
I quickly collected my notebook from my bag and placed it on my lap. I scribbled down: _Uncle suicide in Arkham._  
“Tell me more about your family.” I continued, shifting my weight in his direction.  
His eyes narrowed a little at my words and he soon had out a cigarette. Jostling it between his fingers, he sat back in his seat.   
_Has anxiety._ I wrote silently.   
“Mom’s a waitress.... just her and I most of the time.” He paused to smoke his cigarette, “Dad’s gone.”

“Gone?” I asked. 

“Marine.” He explained. “In Iraq.”

I made sure to write everything he said down. “There are rumors that you’ve been in the military.” 

He cracked a smile at that and shook his head, but did not continue. Instead, he began switching the subject. “How is Mister Todd? Did he get in trouble?”   
As he smoked, he looked over to me with those hypnotic green eyes.   
I could feel another embarrassing blush creep to my cheeks; I tried to just roll my eyes like it didn’t matter. “He’s... he’s in the timeout zone right now I guess.”   
Joe snickered at that, and twisted his body to lay down horizontally with his feet kicked up over the railing and his head was practically in my lap. “What do you see in that prick?” 

I shifted around in my seat a little, feeling weird about this whole situation. “How about we just keep the conversation on you?” 

Joe frowned up at me. “Well,” he huffed, “in order to be a good therapist, you need to make sure the patient is comfortable.”

I was sure my face was red now. I glanced away and pushed my glasses up the bridge of my nose more. I sighed, looking over at Arkham— then I looked down at him and shifted closer, placing my hands under his head to gently set down on my knee. “There. You comfortable now?” 

He smirked up at me and smoked. “Ask me another question.”


	4. Chapter 4

We talked for what seemed like a decade. He told me all these elaborate stories of his past— about his father’s abusive tendencies, his mother’s miscarriage and so forth. For some reason, the way his eyes would stare straight into the sky... and the smirk he’d wear when recounting something miserable.... it all felt fake to me.   
Sure, it was all so detailed and moving but something was missing. And I came to notice that after he’d say something shocking, there would be a little hitch in his voice, as if he was pausing to see if I’d elicit a response. But I stayed solemn the whole time. I stared at his forehead when I wasn’t taking notes. I wondered what truly when on beneath that skull.   
Suddenly, I felt fingers poke and prod violating my mouth. Two pointers were able to tug my lips into a smile.   
Joe looked up to me as he was still upside down. “There, that’s better.” 

I grabbed his hands and pried them away gently. “What are you doing?” 

“Trying to make you laugh.” He smirked up at me. “Or at least, to get a smile on that face. You haven’t been listening to me for the past fifteen minutes. Now what kind of therapist are you?” His eyes simply sparkled, like they were grinning themselves. 

Yes I know. Bad practice for a young psychiatrist in the making. I sighed, lowering his hands slightly. “I guess I’m just tired.”  
Before he could respond, my phone went off. The buzzing jingle shocked me that I dropped his hands and grabbed the small device. It was Jason.   
The moment I heard his voice my stomach grew tight and I felt thick guilt bubble through my system. I quickly scooted off of the bench, leaving Joe there cold on his back.   
“Hey...Hey Jason.” I mustered, holding the phone close to my cheek. I knew I must have been as red as a beet by then. 

_“Harleen. I’ve been trying to get a hold of you. I’m sorry about the other night I swear. Nothing is going on between Barbra and I.”_ He sounded desperate. 

That’s when I remembered that whole situation. A frown found it’s way on my face again. “Alright... alright, Jason. Fine.” 

_“I’m sorry. Would.... would you be up for dinner? I know it’s last minute but.... I just thought, well...”_

At least he was trying. The disparity in his voice was almost sickening to me so I just nodded, placing a hand to my head. It throbbed. “What were you thinking?”  
Behind me, Joe sat up from the bench and scowled as he listened in. A tiny cricket hopped over the asphalt; it made a grave mistake of nearing Joe’s foot. His heavy boot slammed down on the small creature, popping it into a gooey mess under his shoe. He stared at the dead thing with his darkened eyes before lifting his gaze back towards me when I finally hung up. His mouth stayed shut, a thin line of disapproval. I sat back down next to him with a sigh. 

“I’m sorry.” I said, hanging my head slightly. He just looked at me with those eyes, like daggers. Was he going to strangle me? I honestly had the thought cross my mind. But just as it came, it left as he said: “I’m giving you a B- for today.” 

For some reason, that made me crack a smile. “Thought it would be worse.” 

He smiled in return. An instant switch. Like flipping the lights on. His head cocked to the side, and I could feel his pale fingers skirt around the locks of my hair. “For you? No way.” 

-

His words stayed with me throughout the whole night. _For you? No Way._  
What was he playing at? Was that flirting? Or was he just being nice? A frown drooped my lips. He was strange. Stranger than anything I’d ever seen before. And I couldn’t get a read on him. All that talking and I still didn’t _know_ him. Was his father really in Iraq? Did his mother really have a miscarriage? My gut called bullshit. But why? 

“Harleen! Are you even listening?” 

I nearly dropped my fork into my spaghetti when I heard my name. Jason was looking at me with deep concern laced into his expression. “You’ve had this weird look on your face all night!” He continued. 

“What weird look?” I questioned, returning to twist my spaghetti back around my fork. And why did he want to help me on my project? What did he have to gain? Nothing that’s what. He was just this weird new kid choosing to play around with us established ones. 

“That! Right there!” Jason exclaimed and pointed to my face with his fork. “What’s a matter with you Harleen?” 

I sighed at his outburst, placing a hand to my face to calm whatever he was seeing across the table. I tried to relax my tense muscles. “Nothing Jason! I’m just lost in thought.... I.....”

He frowned, like a puppy whose bone was just taken away. “Tell me what’s on your mind. Is it me? I can’t keep apologizing Harleen! I mean, for fucks sake Barbra came up to me—“ 

“No. No.” I quickly shot him a look to keep it down. Others were starting to look. “No, it’s that new kid.”

Once I said new kid, Jason set his fork and knife down— loud. The clinking of silverware caused even more stares from around the small restaurant. “Oh. Him.”  
He was silent for a moment, then continued. “He gives me the creeps. Look, I saw you dance with him too the other night and don’t think I didn’t notice his hands all over you. I... I heard more rumors about him today, Harleen. I don’t want you to go near him, got it?”

“But I’m using him for my psychology project!” I exclaimed. I didn’t enjoy his commanding tone. He was never like this. 

“Then get another subject.” 

His eyes glared at me, concrete, sturdy and unmoving. But I didn’t care. He couldn’t talk to me like this! He couldn’t tell me what to do! “No, Jason.” 

Every bone in his body was tense, I could tell. This so called romantic dinner suddenly took a nosedive. But he caught wind of all the concerned looks around the room and breathed a deep breath through his nostrils. “Listen, Harleen. I’ve been hanging out with Bruce a lot more lately. There is a side to him you don’t know about. He’s smart. Like, really smart. He knows things kids our age shouldn’t know. And he was telling me about Joe. If that even is his real name....”

“What are you talking about?” My eyes were wide. This was incredible! The nerve Jason has to talk down to me and.....and well, this new information. 

He continued. “The guy doesn’t even have fingerprints. Bruce says he only goes by Joe because he doesn’t have a real name. He’s a certified _John Doe_. Grew up in Arkham or something like that. Bruce says he’s only in Gotham High cause the State wants to give him a chance, a real education.” 

My mind was spinning. Grew up in Arkham? John Doe? Every word seemed like some sort of elaborate rumor. I mean, how could I trust Bruce? He was always drunk half the time or flaunting all of his riches. He was a stooge just like Ozzy Cobblepot. 

“I don’t believe you.” I just muttered. I didn’t know what to believe. But I felt like today everything I was fed was bullshit. “But if it’s true. Then....then it gives me all the more reason to keep him as my subject! You know how much psychiatry means to me, Jason. I need to ace this class.” 

He huffed, clenching his jaw now. “For what price, Harleen?” 

My eyes went wide. I slammed down my fork and napkin to stand. “For what price? This isn’t life or death, Jason! This is friggin’ high school! You’re talking like I’m making the biggest mistake of my life! Honestly, what's the worst that could happen?!” 

The words of a fool, but I was using them. I stomped right out of the restaurant, not caring if I only took two bites of my spaghetti. It was good, but I’ve had better. And besides, I’d rather have a big fat juicy hamburger than a fancy-smancy Italian meal probably sponsored by Bruce Wayne’s piggy bank for all I knew. Those two had been very close in the past year. Sometimes I felt like Bruce had sworn him into some sort of weird fraternal puberty cult but when Jason left that prep school I thought things would be different. Guess not. Suddenly I felt myself bump into a thick body. It was stiff and cold. I glanced up to see a cop glaring down at me, backlit by the overhead street light. 

“Watch where you’re going, little miss.” His voice was gruff, hardened by all the restless nights and gory crime scenes seen by any typical Gotham policeman. 

I kept my head down, eyes glued to the glistening tar. It was wet from a recent rain. “Sorry sir.”

“Hey. Look at me when I’m talking to you. Don’t you have any manners?” 

I felt like I was going to explode. I had been talked down to too many times today. I raised my head to glare back at him. But before I could even throw out a word, Jason came bursting out of nowhere. Throwing a punch at the cop, docking him right in the cheek.   
I nearly lost my breath. Was he insane? 

“Jason!” I screamed. He punched the cop again. 

“Don’t talk to her like that you fucking pig!” He seethed, standing to give him a kick to the side. Then he grabbed my arm and yanked me away. We scurried to his bike and zoomed off with a roar.   
He had blood on his knuckles. That’s all I could stare at over his shoulder for the whole ride. It was red and thick. Like the stuff that makes up the insides of a cherry pie. 

He dropped me off at home. We were silent when he parked the bike and shut off the engine. My hands were held in his bloody ones. His head drooped, and I swore I could see a tear drip from his cheek. “I’m sorry.” He finally said. “I was just... angry. I....I think I like you a lot Harleen. I just.... I’ve known you for such a long time, I want things to be perfect. But....” he simply sighed, not knowing how to continue. 

“Jason...” I mustered, reaching a hand up to set on his cheek. “It’s just me. The same old me you grew up with. You don’t need to act like this. Maybe... maybe we should just stay friends then?” 

“No!” His lip trembled; he clutched my hand harder. “No, please. Just give me another chance Harleen. We can make this work. I promise.” 

I sighed. His disparity came back. And something about his eyes made my stomach swirl like it had once used to around him. “Okay.” I said, leaning forward to give him a peck on the lips. “If you promise.” 

He smiled at me in return, pressing forward to kiss deeper, harder. 

But for some reason, some silly little reason.... I wasn’t enjoying the kiss like any normal girl should. I wasn’t hearing wedding bells or planning on taking the next birth control pill. No. I was comparing his smile to Joe’s— and it wasn’t as tempting.


	5. Chapter 5

Things went pretty slow as the new school week rolled around. Every time I was with Jason, I couldn’t be anywhere near Joe. Even at lunchtime, I had to sit at the other end of the cafeteria for what he called “my protection.”  
I wasn’t able to speak to him for what seemed like forever. In the beginning, I would see him lurking around, conveniently in the same places I’d be in. And we still had Anatomy together but the teacher re-arranged our seats. Then it got worse.  
Jason and I were going on more and more dates, but I was seeing less and less of Joe. He stopped coming to class. I didn’t even see him in the cafeteria anymore either. It was like he fell off the face of the earth. I eventually had to choose another psychology subject for my project. Johnny Crane was a fine replacement, and I enjoyed talking to him. But it just wasn’t the same. He didn’t hold as many mysteries as Joe did. 

When the bell rung, everyone slithered off to class. All except for me and Jason. We were the only ones left in the hall. To be honest, I didn’t really care about Physics and he didn’t care about French Literature so here we were. He gently set my body against the lockers and ran his fingers down my sides. His breath was hot against my neck. “You look beautiful today Miss Quinzel.” 

“Thank you Mister Todd.” I replied, dragging my hands through his dark hair. He set his lips against mine, harsh and passionate.  
When he pulled away he muttered, “Hey no fair! Am I not handsome enough for you?” 

“Oh you wanted a compliment too?” I smirked, rolling my eyes at him and giving him another kiss. “You’re decent.” 

He stepped back, twisting my hair around his finger. His eyes held mischievous smiles. “You gotta little devil in you Harleen.” That’s when the bell rang a second time. If we didn’t go now then we’d be in big trouble.  
I just rolled my eyes at him and gave him a shove. “I’ll see you later?” 

“Of course.” He chuckled, stepping back close again to give me one last kiss before jogging off. I was quickly left alone.  
I sighed, smiling softly to myself as I fixed my hair and straightened my shirt. I didn’t want to go to class but I also didn’t want to get a demerit. So I picked up my bag and trudged down the hall.  
But that’s when I saw him. I could have totally missed him all together but for some reason I glanced into the classroom on my right — the art room. He was there, standing behind an easel, paintbrush in hand.  
He had paint on his hands and smeared on his face like a child, but his figure emanated Picasso.  
I should have kept walking, but I just stood there like a fool, and soon of course, he noticed me. We locked eyes.  
I thought he might smile or invite me into the classroom, but he didn’t. He looked pissed— no, more than that— _betrayed._  
I felt like I was stabbed through the heart. I wanted to burst through the door and apologize— his eyes were so rough on my soul I just had to. But I couldn’t. 

“Excuse me. Shouldn’t you be in class?” 

I turned to see an older lady peer down at me with beady eyes.  
“I’m sorry Mrs. Tompkins.” I sighed, looking down at my shoes. But she didn’t seem to care about my half-hearted apology. She checked her watch with a scowl. 

“It’s almost fifteen minutes after the first bell. There’d be no use for you going to class now. How about we go to detention.” 

“What?” My eyes snapped up to hers. “Right now?” 

“Yup.” The bitch grabbed my arm and practically dragged me down a flight of stairs to a small room at the end of the hallway. “Ralph, here’s another one.” 

After throwing me in, she slammed the door and left. I growled under my breath as I rubbed my sore arm. She didn’t need to be so rough.  
I turned to see some fat-ass sitting at the teacher’s table and a few kids sleeping at desks. However, not all hope was lost as I noticed Pammy in the corner. 

“Pamela!” I exclaimed, “what are you doing here?!” 

Her eyes widened when she saw me. “I’d ask the same of you!” She chuckled, flipping her red hair. “Teach caught me stealing some herbs from Botany.” 

“Of course you were.” I teased, plopping down next to her. She just rolled her eyes. 

“I was late to class.” The confession seemed so stupid. Detention for that? Please. Tompkins must be on her period. 

Pammy agreed with another eye roll. “That’s dumb. Why were you late?” 

My fingers combed through my blond hair as I recounted the recent memory. “Well, Jason and I were... well, you know. But then after he left, I saw Joe in a classroom, and I was going to talk to him but then I got caught.” 

“Joe?” She seemed disgusted, upper lip raised. “I thought you weren’t using him for your project anymore.” 

“I’m not. But...” I sighed. But what? I didn’t owe him anything. It’s just... those eyes. The betrayal. It was like I cheated on him or something.  
I mean, to be honest with myself I truly did miss talking to him. And that smile....  
Suddenly there was a hand waving in front of my face. 

“Earth to Harleen.” Pamela tried to get my attention. She seemed concerned, red lips pulled down into a frown. “You’re not daydreaming about him are you?” 

“What? No!” I quickly threw back, flicking my wrist to dismiss the silly question. 

She still didn’t look convinced, but she still replied, “Good. Cause he’s a creep.” 

-

That night was the homecoming football game. It was Gotham High versus Star City. Everyone was there. Even the rich kids from the prep school. As I watched quarterback Harvey Dent throw the ball, Jason squeezed my shoulder.  
“Do you want something to drink?” He asked.  
I nodded. “Pepsi Cola, please.”  
He gave me a little smile and kiss before jogging down the bleachers.  
My gaze wandered off to the cheerleaders. Pamela was shaking her hips to the music and I nearly snorted seeing Ozzy and Thomas Elliot in the first row drooling over her.  
Right then, I felt a body sit down next to me again, and I reached out expecting my drink but instead I got a gummy worm. My eyes widened at the little blue and green worm in my hand, and I glanced over to see Joe tearing the head off of his own worm with clenched teeth. When he was done chewing he said, “I didn’t know you liked football.” 

“I’m here with Jason.” I explained cautiously. I thought he was mad at me?

He threw his hand back into his baggie and tossed another worm into his mouth. “Course you are.”

I narrowed my eyes at his tone. But before I could speak he continued: “Ya know, almost every player on that team has gotten a concussion.” He jabbed a finger in the direction of our team. “It makes you wonder how they really are up there.” He moved the finger to his noggin. “How does it feel to get a concussion over and over again?” The last part was more of a whisper but I still heard it.  
My head throbbed at the mere proposal. I stayed silent, turning to look back at the game. I slowly ate the gummy worm. I felt the weight of his eyes on me.

“How’s Crane working for you?” 

I tried not to show any emotion. “He’s fine. I should get an A.” 

“Does he talk about Scarecrows?” 

“All the time.” A little annoyance floated through my tone, which caused him to twitch a smirk.  
He knew. He knew I was yearning for him and his stories. He knew Johnny Crane wasn’t good enough.  
Suddenly I could feel his breath against my temple. “I’m disappointed in you, Harley. You’ve neglected your patient.”  
The way he said my name sent shivers down my spine. He was so close.  
I was frozen. “So that’s what you are? A patient?” I hadn’t realized it in that moment, but my question was more loaded than I intended. 

_“Your patient.”_

His words floated through my brain. That’s when I boldly turned to match my gaze with his. His green eyes were smiling again. But after a beat, they drifted away to the game. “If... you want better entertainment....meet me at the gate in five.”  
Then he left.  
I was speechless. A million emotions were zipping through me I could barely think. My legs were jelly. I thought I might tip over if I stood, but I did it any way. One step at a time I was fine.  
“Harleen? Where are you going?” Jason asked with concern as I passed him on the stairs. He had my drink and a hamburger. 

“I’ll be right back.” I replied but I had no idea if I’d simply be right back. It was the first thing that slipped out of my mouth.

Wouldn’t you know it, he was there like he said. But he was waiting in a restored 1969 Chevy Camaro, one arm hanging out of the window and one hand on the wheel.   
I must have been frozen still in shock because he gave a little nod with his head on gesture to come on. I blushed in hesitance, biting my lip and glancing over my shoulder. Jason was nowhere in sight, so he didn’t follow me. I looked back to Joe who looked like he was growing more impatient by the second.   
Fine! I had nothing to lose. I dashed over to the car and hopped in.   
“I didn’t know you drove.” I said. 

“I don’t.” He replied and zoomed off. And that’s when I honestly wondered if this was his real car or if he stole it.


	6. Chapter 6

Joe brought me to a circus. I wasn’t aware that there would be one in town, but he definitely knew. And it appeared that everyone there knew of _him._   
We got in without any tickets and we’re able to sit in the first row. Before I could even ask, he answered for me.

“I come every time they’re in town.” 

The show started about a minute later. Everything I saw was spectacular. The clowns were especially hysterical, and Joe seemed to like them a lot— laughing every time they would fall on their faces.   
The ballerina that went on next was gorgeous. I felt like I was watching swan lake or something. And at the end of her performance, she threw her red rose towards Joe. He caught it swiftly and didn’t hesitate to hand it to me.   
I must have been blushing deep red, like the rose, but he didn’t seem to care. He smiled that great smile of his when I took it. 

“How’d you like it?” He asked when it was all over. 

“It was....fantastic, Joe.” I was in awe, my eyes sparking under the tent lights. He stood, and stretched out his hand for me to take, which I did. We began to slowly make our way around the ring.   
This was my time to ask him anything I wanted. But why wasn’t I saying anything? It was like my tongue was lead. I kept staring at the rose in my hand. But then he took a turn and lead me inside the ring, stepping over the small wall. He wandered right over to the target the weapons specialist used and pried out one of the left over knives. He stepped back quite a few feet, and without any warning, chucked the knife back into the target. The knife was inches from the center dot.   
“Is Joe your real name?” I asked. The words stumbled out, but the sound of the knife wizzing past me made me think about Jason’s rumors.   
He simply raised an eyebrow at that, and trudged over to yank the knife out again. “Names don’t matter.” 

“Sure they do.” I objected. “Names are unique. They help people distinguish one another.”

“Do you think one person can have multiple names then?” He threw the blade again. 

I frowned at that, having to think about an answer. Everything spoken with him always felt like a chess game. But it was a good chess game— exciting. “Well, yeah I guess someone can have multiple names. Like different titles.” 

He shook his head. “No, I’m not talking about titles.” 

“I’m sure some people go by different names. But I feel like they’d be up to no good, cause they are purposely abandoning their honest birthright. They’d be rejecting themselves.” I was getting all academic, but something about my response didn’t feel right. Maybe I didn’t think about it all the way through enough.   
He walked over to me, taking my hand firmly in his and brought me to the dead center of the ring. He placed his other hand on my waist as if we were going to start dancing. Those green eyes held mischief.   
“It’s like you for example,” he replied finally, voice low, throaty, “I seem to call you Harley exclusively. But at the same time you’re Harleen to everyone else. According to you, someone here is up to no good. But which is it? Harley or Harleen that’s causing all the trouble?”   
That’s when he flipped my poor psychotherapy attempts around. I realized this whole time I lost control of the conversation ever since I asked him the question. I mean, here I was trying to find out more of his past and now we were talking about me. So I tired to regain control.   
“It’s neither. I’ve been called Harleen all my life until you came along. It’s Joe who’s causing all the trouble.”

“Oh, but _doctor—_ “ 

A sly smirk grew on my face. “That’s right, you’re my patient aren’t you? You’ve talked openly about your past.... your parents....” I hoped my tone told him that I doubted that very past. “But I never asked what your problem is.” 

When I said that, he began to chuckle under his breath. That’s when I noticed that we were swaying in circles, dancing despite the lack of music. When I held my ground on what I wanted from him, his chuckles faded away. He grew somber— his eyes cast to the ground with a flicker of something... something real.   
“I guess I’m lonely.” He began. “I feel confined in my own skin.... like... I could never share myself.”

“You can tell me.” I pushed softly. Finally, we might actually get somewhere. He wouldn’t look at me. 

“Well, I have these thoughts. Thoughts that simply aren’t me....and they never end. It’s like having a bad dream, but not waking up. I hate it.” He shook his head in dismay. 

I frowned, furrowing my brow to try to make sense out of it. “These thoughts; are they dark? Suicidal? Or anything like that?” 

For some reason my question made him chuckle, like it wasn’t serious at all. “No. No, no, nothing like that. I guess it’s more of a feeling than a thought when I think about it now. I’ve never had the feeling before.... it’s alien. Always there, buzzing inside of me. I want to just cut myself open and pull it out....”

“Because it scares you.” I finished. My eyes finally connected with his. Fear. That’s what I could see. 

His hand tightened its grip on mine. “And to make things worse, it’s not just in me. It’s in everyone else too. I see it in all their faces.” 

“What is it?” The million dollar question. 

His features were solemn, serious— real. Whatever he was going to say was the truth. It must be. 

“Complacency.” 

I nearly froze in my spot when he said that, not expecting that word to tumble from his lips at all. 

“That’s why I always smile.” He continued, “It helps me stay different from the rest. Helps me remember who I really am.” 

“And who is that?” No, this was the million dollar question. I even held my breath waiting for his response— but it never came. He grinned at me instead. His hand left my waist and fingers tucked hair behind my ear. 

“Hey Joe!” Our little session was suddenly interrupted. It was the ring leader. He jumped over the barrier and strolled over to us. “Good to see you again. I didn’t know they let you out.”

Joe turned his smile towards the other man, stepping away from me. The lack of closeness between us was jarring. “Good behavior.” He replied. 

The ring leader nodded. “Well, we’re closing it up now, so if you don’t mind.... I’ll see you next show.” 

“Of course.” Joe took my hand again and escorted me back out of the tent. But something wasn’t right. My eyes narrowed in thought at their little conversation. 

“What did he mean ‘they let you out’?” I asked, standing firm in my spot, causing him to almost trip.   
He just smiled innocently at that and rolled his eyes. “He was talking about my parents. I’m usually grounded most of the time.” 

I let go of his hand to cross my arms. I shouldn’t be holding it anyway. “I thought your father was in Iraq.”

Hearing that, Joe huffed impatiently. “You know what I mean.” He raised an unamused eyebrow at my skeptical look then held out his hand again, beckoning for me to take it. “C’mon Harley.” His tone was stern, commanding.   
I guess I was being too picky. But he was such an enigma, it was driving me crazy. As I took his hand a second time, some weird thought crossed my mind. I don’t remember seeing the knife put back on the target. 

-

The rest of the night sucked. I shouldn’t have done it but I did. I brought the rose home with me. First of all, I had to lie to Jason and I told him that I found it on the ground near the woman’s bathroom. I also had to tell him that I got sick and threw up in the bathroom, so that’s why I took so long during the game.   
I felt a little guilty, but I was mostly bothered by why I didn’t feel guilty enough. But now all I felt was pain. Hot, piercing pain shooting up my arms and jaw.  
Daddy saw the rose in my room while I was taking a shower. He didn’t like that. Because according to him that meant that I was getting married. Which obviously was far from the truth. I couldn’t understand how he could come up with such an extreme conclusion, but I wasn’t able to try to talk sense into him. My hair was grabbed, thrusting my head into the doorframe. I thought I broke teeth, but luckily it was just my jaw popping.   
I blacked out that night with the taste of metal in my mouth. 

My reflection looked broken. Busted lip, dry bloody nose, bruised jaw, bruised arms.... bruised....everything. It hurt to lift my arms, but I forced my hands to my head, pulling my hair into pig tails.   
The hairbrush fell right through my trembling fingers when I finished, dropping into the bowl of the sink. I slumped forward— tears bubbling in my eyes. Did I have to go to school today? If Jason saw.... he’d go on a rampage. I placed a hand to my head with a sigh. The concealer sat innocently on the counter across from me. I’d have to try.

Luckily, the gods were looking down upon me because Jason was not in school today. Said he had to do something with Bruce. He wouldn’t explain.   
I was able to make it through most of the day, but lunch was the hardest part. That meant seeing the girls. And honestly, I don’t want Pam or Selina to see me like this either. After I grabbed my tray full of slop, I glanced around the large room. It was packed. My usual table was there, with them waiting for me... but I turned in the opposite direction.   
I passed Eddie and Johnny, who both brightened up when they saw me. Eddie waved. But I kept walking. I just kept walking.   
At the end of the cafeteria I was met with one last table. Occupation one. Joe.   
He was hunched over his tray, picking at his mashed potatoes with his spork.   
I sighed through my nose, briefly unsure if I wanted to sit down. Part of me wanted to run into the bathroom and hide.   
But my feet went forward anyway. I set my tray down across from his and plopped down, eyes cast away. I didn’t want to see his reaction. 

“I like your shirt.” Was what he said. Plainly. Truthfully. 

I raised my eyes up to him, he just continued to play with his food. I was wearing a red long sleeve. Nothing special. But I guess he finally got to see me in red.   
I kept silent, taking my spork to scoop up some food. But I didn’t make it too far, and my trembling hand missed my mouth entirely. The spork fell right onto the floor. I stared at it for a moment. I was so numb I couldn’t feel the tears running down my cheeks. I turned back to my tray, grabbing it to just leave. I needed to go.   
But I couldn’t. Joe reached over and placed a hand on mine. Under his sleeve, I could see a bruise. Something I never noticed before.   
“Where’d you get that from?” I whispered. 

“I get in a lot of fights.” He replied, then stood, rounding the table to my side. “C’mon.” He placed both hands around my waist, trying to pull me up.

“Where are we going?” 

“Away from here.” 

-

To my surprise he brought me back to Arkham. But we didn’t just sit across the street like last time. He brought me around the back, where the tall electric fence was. There was a small hole cut into the wire and he gestured for me to go through it. 

“Are you sure?” I asked with hesitation. I didn’t know what his plan was, but I was scared we’d get caught. He simply nodded, placing his hands on my lower back to push me forward through the fence. He followed close behind.   
I was shocked to see no guards around at all. There was just one flimsy security camera, but it wasn’t pointed in our direction. Joe quickly escorted me to the side of the building, where there was a ladder. He persuaded me to climb it all the way to the top of the building. At one point I felt like falling off, but when I got woozy, he’d place a steady hand on my hip.   
However, the rooftop of the Asylum was refreshing. The wind was blowing nicely and the view was spectacular.   
He brought me over to the city-side and we sat down on some boxes. Sitting down finally felt nice. My bones began to settle inside of me. I gingerly crossed my arms, hunching forward as a gust of cold wind hit me.   
Joe casually slid his grey trench coat off and slipped it around my shoulders like a gentleman. It was warm. 

“This is my home.” He said, looking forward to the city. 

I followed his gaze, snuggling closer in his coat. “It’s beautiful.”  
I could see out of the corner of my eye Joe growing a wide smirk. “You could say that. Although Gotham gets better at night. However, it’s missing something....”

I looked down at the city, watching like a hawk all the cars zooming buy, the people scattering all around, plain- faced and busy. “They’re complacent.” 

His smirk grew wider. “Look who’s been listening.” Joe chuckled, leaning back on his palms. “They need fear.” 

“Fear?” That almost made me giggle. “You’re sounding like Johnny Crane.” 

Joe turned his gaze to me, his eyes hard. “I’m nothing like him.” He looked back to the city. “I’m talking about a disruption. A little push.... And then all the pieces will come crumbling down. You have these fools... these _white knights_.... Jim Gordon for example,” 

“Barbra’s dad?”

“Yes.” A brief annoyed frown crossed his lips at my ignorance. But then he continued, “You see right now, he’s got it easy. A little petty crime here and there, an occasional murder.... but he’s never had to face any real decisions. It’s like we don’t even need a GCPD. And you have Mayor Garcia there.... why, I bet ya he’s never even left the office. Sleeps with both eyes closed.”

I didn’t understand what he was getting at. “And that’s a bad thing?” 

Joe sighed heavily, clearly annoyed at me. “How is Gotham supposed to grow when nothing happens? We’re moving at a ninety degree angle horizontally. No one’s brains are working. —Look, I’m an honest guy. Is it too much to ask for a little honest anarchy? Honest smiles? Honest murders...” the last part as a mere whisper but I still heard it.   
I still heard it but I kept my mouth shut.   
That’s when he began to direct his speech towards me. “I mean, you have people like Gordon, who aren’t moved to do anything— while at the same time.... your daddy think’s he’s a number one boxer using you as a personal punching bag. That’s the problem. People don’t realize how royally fucked they are. Gordon isn’t doing anything because he thinks everything is fine. Think about it Harley. Just a little push. And they’ll see.” 

“...They’ll see who they really are. All of them.” I answered softly, trying to comprehend everything he was telling me. It was convoluted, but at the same time it made sense. It made sense to me. That’s why he was telling me all of this.   
He grinned at me, slipping an arm around my shoulders. His hand squeezed my shoulder— fingers pressing into a fresh bruise but I don’t think he realized what he was doing. He kept smiling.   
“They’ll take off their masks.... and see the world for what it truly is...” 

“Fucked.” We said at the same time. 

That made me smile. 

And he was close, I could feel his breath against my cheek. Green eyes wouldn’t leave mine. Something malicious was there again, but behind that laid something else. Lust.   
I felt his hand travel to the back of my neck and my eyes slipped closed.   
But it was just for a second.  
No. This was wrong.   
I quickly slid out of his arms and slinked away from the scene, leaving him there cold. His coat fell on the ground.   
I couldn’t do this to Jason. He didn’t deserve that. I mean, look where I was right now! The top of Arkham Asylum! Jason said he was dangerous. And we were just theorizing mass chaos. 

“Harley.” If he could verbalize the look he had the other day of that betrayal, then he just did. It wasn’t sad, it was just longing. He yearned for me.   
I pressed my palms to my ears, squeezing my eyes shut. “No, stop it. Don’t call me that anymore. I’m just Harleen.” 

I could feel his heavy presence behind me now. “Listen to me.” He said, voice deep. “Don’t be like the rest of them. If you want something, go and take it.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are some vulgar language and a little gore in this one!

When I think about it now that was probably the best and the worst advice I had ever taken to heart in the long run. When two o clock rolled by I knew school had to be over so I called Pamela to pick me up. I was in the park across the street from Arkham waiting for her. I didn’t want to be with Joe anymore so I ditched him despite his best wishes. And I know I was ashamed to talk to Pam and Selina today because of my condition but.... I didn’t want to go home either. So Pam was my best bet. When she picked me up, I squeezed my eyes shut to block out her sad expression. I heard her sigh and place a gentle hand on my shoulder.  
When we got to her house, she ran me a bath, saying that it’ll make me “Feel much better.” I didn’t protest. The hot water felt nice and whatever herbs she put in helped soothe the pain.  
“You can stay the night if you want Harls.” She said through the door, her voice sympathetic.  
I placed a few fingers to my forehead. “Thanks Pammy.”  
I thought about Joe. I couldn’t get his eyes out of my mind — or his touch. I curled up in a ball in the corner of the tub and placed my head against the wall. Jason was right when he told me he was dangerous.... but it was like he was singed on my brain and on my skin. My stomach grew tight in knots. _Guilt._ That’s what it was. I was guilty because I had let him talk to me like that, to swoop me away and pursue me... to give me his jacket and put his arm around me.  
But I wasn’t going to lie, it felt nice. For a second I wondered if Jason would do the same. I suppose he would. But I also think he would be so full of rage towards my father he’d forget to take care of me. I mean, look what he did to that cop! And all he said was that I didn’t have any manners— and boom. At least five blows to the head. Out cold.  
Joe was different. He saw my pain but he didn’t get angry or sad. He kept talking to me like I was a normal person.  
I sighed, running my hands through my scalp. I unclipped my hair from the bun and let it all just fall down into the water. Why did I feel conflicted? It was ridiculous. To think.... Joe and I.... no. No, I’m Jason’s. Joe was nothing more than a project. Maybe even a friend. I already broke my promise to Jason not to hang around with him. If you want something, go and take it.  
A loud groan escaped my lips and I dropped my head into my hands.  
“Harleen!” Suddenly Pammy shouted my name. “Harleen, you need to see this.” 

“What?” I called back, not wanting to leave the safe confines of the tub. 

I heard her footsteps barrel to the door. “I’m on the phone with Selina. She says there is this weird man-bat thing on GCN! C’mon!” 

“Man-bat?” I muttered, rolling my eyes in skepticism. With another groan, I switched the drain on and slowly climbed out. Pam was nice enough to leave a plush green towel for me to wrap myself in. Then I padded out of the bathroom to find her standing in front of the television with her cell phone in her hands.  
“What are you blabbing about?” I asked, crossing my arms over my toweled chest.

“Just look!” She exclaimed, taking my chin in her hand to make me look at the TV. Her fingers squished my cheeks. 

GCN was on, and some young reporter named Jack Ryder was covering something live. _“I’m here on 23rd Avenue to report on the recent Gotham Bank robbery that took place fifteen minutes ago. ...Or did it?”_ He paused for dramatic effect. _“I am pleased to inform you that absolutely none of the money was stolen and the thieves are in custody. But don’t be fooled! This was not by the hand of the GCPD! No! This was orchestrated by our very own— very new— vigilante!! And we have him here for an interview.”_  
With that, the camera tilted up towards a skyscraper, where a dark figure appeared. Then a second, shorter figure. One after the other they leaped off of the ledge and swooped down gracefully next to the reporter. And just like Pammy said, one was dressed like a bat and the other was.... well.... he looked like any superhero you’d see in a comic book.  
“Holy shit.” I muttered, eyes wide at the screen. 

Jack Ryder simply beamed, holding the microphone to Bat-kid’s lips. _“Tell us what your name is!”_

_“Batman.”_ He replied. His voice was horse, deep, like he was trying to mask it. But I could tell it was someone young beneath the mask. The same went for the other one. 

_“And I’m Robin!”_ This one grinned cockily. 

Pam and I both shared looks of complete amusement. 

_“Well, thank you both for stopping this robbery. Can we hope we’ll get to see you again?”_ Ryder asked with a smile. 

_“You bet motherfucker!”_ Robin replied before his partner could. Batman shoved him in the side with annoyance. I narrowed my eyes. Something about that Robin kid sounded familiar.  
Ryder chuckled, eyes looking beyond the camera. _“That’ll have to be bleeped.”_ He murmured before adding, _“Well that’s fantastic! I’m sure the GCPD is excited to be working with you.”_

_“That’s the thing.”_ A voice sounded, and Detective Gordon walked out, looking very unamused. _“I’d like to have a word with you boys.”_

And that was it. The camera panned away and Ryder continued to blab about something.  
With a raised eyebrow I turned to look at Pamela who was just as flabbergasted as I was. “What the fuck was that?” She asked. 

“I have no idea.” I plopped down on the couch, running hands through my hair. Who the heck were those guys?  
Right then, Pam’s phone went off. 

“Who is that now?” I asked. 

When she looked a frown traced her lips. “Argh! Shit. It’s Harvey. I promised him I’d help him with his student government campaign speech. I totally forgot I was supposed to meet him.” She bit her lip at me, feeling torn about what she should do. 

“It’s ok, Pammy. Just go. I want to go to bed anyway.” I waved my hand at her. 

Her foot thumped on the ground a mile a minute but then she sighed and smiled at me graciously. “Okay. Take my pjs, second to last drawer. And obvs I don’t care if you sleep in the bed. I’ll be back in like an hour or two.” With that, she took the call, grabbed her bag and coat and ran out the front door. 

-

The next day I sat on the bleachers to watch Pamela practice for her cheerleading competition. I felt much better from that bath she gave me, plus it was nice to be away from the house for a night. The school news this morning was all about that Batman and Robin duo. They even made the front page paper. Half of me felt like they were one night pranksters looking for fame. I mean, vigilantes in Gotham? What for? To stop petty crime? And they were young. Probably some reckless assholes from the prep school.  
Johnny Crane hopped down a few rows to plop down next to me. His knee jiggled in anxiety, but I just supposed he was hyped up on some drug. “I had that dream again.” He began.  
I sighed, not really interested in being therapist at the moment. “You did?”  
He nodded, blue eyes shifting towards his lap. “But this time.... this time he wasn’t bullying me.” He paused and bit his lip, “The Scarecrow.... he... this time he went _into_ me. Like, him and I... we were one. One person. And I liked it. I finally felt good for once. Whole.” 

“Oh really?” The words were half-hearted as my eyes scanned the field. Off to the left I could see a figure wandering next to the fence. It was Joe. 

Johnny seemed fearful. His fingers tapped his knee. “I mean, what could it mean Harleen?” 

“It’s probably nothing. It’s just a dream after all.” When I think about it now, it probably meant a whole lot. But again, I wasn’t interested.  
Johnny frowned at that. “If you think it’s okay... then I won’t worry about it.” 

I turned and smiled at him. “That’s right. Don’t worry. How’s... uh, how’s Eddie and Harv?” I tried to change the subject. 

He shrugged, trying to push aside his uneasiness. “Eddie is fine. Got High Honor Roll again. He’s so brilliant.” He sighed, almost out of slight jealousy. “And Harvey... well, he’s all stressed out about running for student gov president. He’s up against Falcone.... tough competition. But I hear he’s collecting a lot of votes. His mom keeps baking cupcakes.” His lips twitched into a smile. 

I smiled too. “He’s got my vote.” 

Right then, a shadow hovered over us. I looked up to see Jason towering over me. He glanced at Johnny and tipped his head. “Get lost crackhead.” 

Johnny glared at him in return but stood, and before leaving he said, “I’ll see you around Harleen.” 

Jason smiled at me and sat down next to me, taking my hands in his. He had a fresh bruise on his cheekbone.  
“You didn’t need to be so mean.” I said, rolling my eyes at him. Then I gestured to the wound. “Where’d you get that from?” 

He furrowed his brow and gently touched his cheek. “Oh. Uh... Bruce and I were just roughing around.”

I nearly snorted. “You mean pretty boy Bruce Wayne was tussling around with you? Yeah right.”

Jason almost looked offended. “Hey, Bruce is actually pretty badass.” 

I just rolled my eyes. What nonsense. 

“So the Halloween party is coming up soon.” He continued. “What do you wanna go as?”  
Hmm, I almost forgot about that! I love Halloween, and the school always throws a killer party. But before I could respond, his cell phone went off.  
He glanced at the number and sighed. “I’m sorry baby, I gotta take this.” He quickly kissed my forehead then jogged away. I scowled, dropping my chin into my hand. My eyes slid over to the direction of Joe. He still stood there, poking a stick through the holes of the fence.  
I glanced over to were Jason ran off to; he was pretty far off so I decided to just go over to Joe. I couldn’t help it. I know I walked out on him yesterday but something about him always lured me back in. When I trudged over to him, he smiled at me with a great smile. It made me grow one in response; it was contagious. He wore a black muscle t-shirt which revealed his bare arms. I’ve never seen that much of him before— it surprised me that he actually had some good definition to him, but... besides that, I could see a few bruises here and there and he was littered with scars.  
“Why is everyone in this goddamn school full of bruises?” I muttered, not much thinking. Joe’s smile grew wider and he stepped closer. 

“No long faces, pumpkin. I told you I get in a lot of fights. But I think you’re the one who wins the medal.” He stepped closer again and dragged the stick down my arm. “You heal fast.”  
I grabbed the stick from him and tossed it over the fence before crossing my arms. “Yeah well, Pammy helped.” 

He set his back against the fence and looked out towards the cheerleaders, watching Pam do a backflip. He was silent for a moment before saying, “Knock knock.” 

I rolled my eyes, looking towards my feet, but I replied, “Who is it?” 

“Robin.” 

“Robin who?”

Joe spun around so he was standing before me, pushing my back gently into the fence with a finger gun under my chin. “Robin _you_ , now hand over the cash.” 

His eyes were playful and so was his smile. I slowly gained a smile too and actually began laughing at his corny joke. He dropped his hand and exclaimed, “See, there’s my Harley-girl! I love your laugh. You should do it more.” 

“Oh yeah?” I grinned. He nodded and leaned his shoulder on the fence besides me. “Speaking of Robins,” I said, “Did you see the news?” 

He nodded. “Of course.” Joe cast his eyes back towards the cheerleaders. “Maybe Gotham’s found their Dark Knight after all.” 

I chuckled. “What? A jackass dressed like a bat? He’ll fizzle out in a day or two.” 

Joe shrugged and looked back at me. “Ya never know. It is interesting though, don’t you think?” 

“I guess so. But I don’t think they’re the answer to your complacency problem.” 

“You’re right.” He nodded and lifted a hand to run fingers through the tips of my hair. Green eyes stared into mine. “Harley—“ 

I turned away from him. I kept my arms crossed. “I told you; I don’t want you calling me that.” 

There was silence for a moment, but then he placed a hand on my shoulder and swept back my hair with care. He grew close. “Harley. I think you’ve done something to me.” His voice was low, husky. “You make me want. And I never want anything.” 

I was surprised to suddenly feel hands wrap around me and pry my arms away from my chest. He took my hands in his and spun me around to face him. “You’re too serious about things sweetheart. I want to make you happy.” He began to dance with me, right there on the field. I blushed red in embarrassment as he started to hum his own tune. 

“Joe!” I complained, noticing some cheerleaders looking. Even Pammy saw and she gave me a weird look. 

But he spun me around and around until I finally burst into giggles. “Just stop it already!” 

“I promise I won’t step on your toes.” He chuckled, pulling me close now flush against his chest. I could feel his heartbeat. Now we swayed back and forth. “Remember this?” 

“The circus.” I whispered. “But there’s never any music.” 

He gave me a little twirl. “There could be.” 

Before I could even ask him what that meant, we were interrupted. 

“Get the fuck away from her!” 

It was Jason. I turned to see him fuming, fists clenched.  
I immediately backed away from Joe and stood in between them. “Jason, he wasn’t doing anything! We were just fooling around!” 

“Yeah right. The freak wasn’t just fooling around, Harleen. She’s my girlfriend!” He stepped forward, but I placed a hand on his chest to try to calm him down. 

Joe raised his hands but narrowed his eyes in a dark manor. “Who you calling a freak?” 

Jason pushed forward but I held him back. “YOU! You slimy asshole! Go back to fucking Arkham were you belong.” 

“Look,” Joe actually started to chuckle, “you’re right. I wasn’t fooling around.”

When he said that, I stopped breathing. 

Joe smirked, brushing a piece of his hair behind his ear. “I want to steal her. Steal her away from you. You don’t deserve her smile, Todd.” 

I was so caught off guard that Jason rushed right past me, flinging his fists towards Joe. They both fell to the ground, tussling and punching in the dirt. Jason seemed to have the upper hand, and he knocked Joe in the face until blood drew from his nose.  
“Stop it Jason!!” I screamed, darting over to pull him off. “Stop it before you get in trouble!!”  
Hearing that, he stopped and slid off of Joe to stand. He took my hand in his hand lead me away to the dark shadows of the bleachers.  
“Are you okay?” He asked me, eyes filled with concern. 

“Me? What about you?!” My hands held his bloodied ones. “Jason he was my friend.” 

Jason sighed through his nose. “Harleen, don’t you remember what I told you about him? He’s fucking dangerous. And I didn’t want you to be around him. You’re my girl.” He placed a hand on my cheek while the other hand gripped my arm, maybe a little too tightly.  
My eyes slid to the ground submissively. I didn’t want him to do anything more stupid. So I just let him kiss me.  
And I didn’t notice Joe glaring at us, eyes like daggers. Viki Vale tried to help him but he simply shoved her away and trudged off. 

-

That night was the worse night of my life. Well, every night seemed to be the worse night of my life so far.  
It was the student government debate, and the whole school filled the auditorium. Of course I sat next to Jason and Pammy and Selina. I couldn’t see Joe anywhere.  
Carmine had just finished his heated speech when Harvey walked out on stage. The blonde took his podium with a smile, but I could tell he was a little nervous underneath.  
I glanced over to Pam, who gave him a thumbs up in support.  
But Harv wasn’t even able to spit out one word of his speech when Carmine strolled over to the enemy podium and raised a cup in the air. “Rot in hell, Dent! You don’t deserve to be president!!” He screamed, and threw the cup at Harvey, splashing god knows what on his face.  
That’s when everything went to shit. Harvey fell to the floor, clutching his face and screaming in pain. The principle and teachers all rushed to his aid and to apprehend Carmine. And all the students stampeded out of the auditorium in fear. Selina was trying to comfort Pam, and I was crying. Jason took my hand and ran me out of there.  
“It’s okay, Harleen.” He tried to calm me down, bringing me into an empty classroom to sit down. He kneeled in front of me. “Shhh. Shhh. It’s okay. I’m sure....I’m sure Harvey will be okay.....”  
He raised his hands to wipe away my tears. I tired to stop but my lip kept trembling. It was just so shocking!  
“Are....you sure?” I whispered, placing a hand on his.  
He began to nod, but when he did, his phone went off. He saw the name and shook his head, “Goddammit. I’m sorry Harleen I need to take this.”  
He stood, but not before giving me a long, passionate kiss on the lips. He gave me a sympathetic smile, then rushed out of the room. Little did I know that was going to be the last time I would see him for a few days. 

-

Harvey was in the hospital. That was all the news lately. The whole school seemed to be grim about it too. Everything was quiet, but I guess that’s what happens when one of the most well liked kids gets struck in the face with acid. That’s what the rumor was. Acid. I’d like to know how the hell Carmine got his hands on that! And over a student government campaign? What a childish fool.  
Jason never came back after that phone call, so Pammy drove me to her house again. I stayed the night once more, but I knew I had to go home again at some point.  
But something weird was going on. I sat at a table with Pam, Selina, Eddie and Johnny for lunch. My phone read unavailable for the third time.  
Jason hadn’t been answering his phone.  
“What do you think he’s doing?” I asked, plopping my cheek into my hand. I poked at my jello.

Selina shrugged. “Maybe he’s cheating on you.” 

Hearing that hurt my heart even more. I glanced up to see Barbra Gordon flirting with some poor sap and I scowled. Pam nudged Selina hard in the side, electing an “Ow!” from her. 

“Don’t worry, Harleen.” Eddie said, reaching over to place a kind hand on mine. “I’m sure he’s fine.” 

Johnny shrugged and scratched the back of his neck. “I don’t know, man. I mean, who just drops off the face of the earth like that? Not Jason Todd.” 

_“Johnathan.”_ Eddie scolded, looking to me sympathetically. 

I shook my head and scrolled through my phone to find Bruce’s number. “No he’s right. Something is wrong. He would always check with me here and there. But now he’s not even answering.”  
I stood to walk away from the table, clutching the phone to my ear. I didn’t want to talk to Bruce but he was my only hope. 

_“This is Bruce.”_ He answered. 

“Hey, Bruce. It’s Harleen.” I began, “I was wondering... if you’ve seen Jason recently? Or spoken to him? I can’t seem to get in touch with him.” 

_“Jason? No... the last time I spoke with him was the other day.”_

Dammit. I frowned, thanked Bruce and hung up. I already called his house, and if he wasn’t with Bruce or at school I had no idea where he would be.  
After school I forced myself to go back home. I was tired and worried sick over Jason so I went straight to my room. But of course, it didn’t go peacefully. The moment I stepped one foot in that apartment all hell broke loose. “Harleen Quinzel where the fuck have you been?!” My dad roared, beer bottle in his hand. 

“I’m sorry daddy, I was sleeping over Pamela’s.” I replied, trying to rush by.

He slammed the bottle on the counter. “For two fucking nights?! I was worried sick. You didn’t do any lesbian shit did you?” 

My eyes narrowed in disgust at him. What a pathetic human being. I hated him. I ran into my room and slammed the door behind me. I threw my bag on my bed with a huff.  
My eyes instantly noticed the empty vase next on my nightstand. I was able to keep Joe’s rose, so I put it in a vase with some water. It was beautiful. But now it was gone.  
“Daddy!” I screamed, fists growing into balls. “What did you do to my rose?!” I turned and swung the door back open, only to be shocked to see him standing right there. A hand flew across my cheek. 

I stumbled backwards into my vanity, and my head struck the mirror causing it to shatter. 

“It was from that boy. So I threw it away.” He growled. 

My trembling hand reached up to touch a damp spot behind my head. Red was stained on my fingers. Suddenly my trembling body wasn’t trembling from pain anymore, but from fury. My eyes shot up to his. “I hate you.” 

“Excuse me?” 

“I fucking HATE YOU!” I screamed, grabbing the lamp from the table to chuck it at him. He dodged it, and bolted towards me, grabbing my hair again to yank me close to him. I could smell the alcohol pouring from his mouth. 

“Apologize to your daddy.” 

“No!” I squirmed, and he grabbed my jaw. If he squeezed any tighter I feared the bone will break. So I swung my leg forward and kicked him in the balls.  
He stumbled back in pain, and I shoved him so he would fall on the floor. But he ended up falling half into the bathroom door and the wall.  
The bathroom door swung open. I saw red. Red water.  
Like molasses, I crept around the corner to look into the room. The tub was full of red water. And my mom laid there. Her wrists were slit.  
I don’t even remember if a scream left my lips. Silent tears streamed down my cheeks as I turned to my father. “You did this.” 

“Harleen...” he muttered, trying to stand. 

Blinded by rage, I trudged into the kitchen and yanked out a knife from the block. 

“Harleen.... your mother was a fucking depressed whore....” What an excuse. 

I raised the knife and plunged it into his heart. “And you’re a good for nothing ASSHOLE! You fucking son of a bitch!!”  
I kept stabbing and stabbing, blood getting everywhere. I was afraid that he wouldn’t die. One stab wasn’t enough. He needed to rot in hell.  
But when I finally lost steam, I began to come down to reality. I slowly stepped over him into the bathroom. I dropped the knife into the sink before washing my hands. The red swirled down into the drain. The trembling started to come back again. I didn’t want to think about the reality of what I just did. I didn’t want to look at my mom. And I didn’t want to acknowledge my fresh corpse of a father.  
I stepped back over him to get my phone in my room. I had to dial the number three times in order to finally get it right.  
“Joe?” 

_“What is it?”_

“I did something.... bad.” 

_“Me too.”_

“Can...can I come see you?” 

_“Now isn’t a good time.”_

“Please?” I was clutching onto the phone for dear life. Tears were streaming down my face. He must have heard my sniffles because he said, 

_“Fine. I’ll text you the address.”_


	8. Chapter 8

It was hard to think over the buzz of guilt and insanity that pierced through my brain at the moment, but I did recognize that something wasn’t right with his voice. He sounded sad. 

I quickly packed a small bag of things then left, not looking back.   
The address he gave lead me to some abandoned looking apartment in the Narrows. I had a feeling like this wasn’t his actual house, but I pushed on. The front door was open, but the inside was dark.   
“Joe?” I called, my voice still small and shaky.   
There was no response, but as I went further into the apartment, I began to hear the buzz of an iridescent light and the clink of something metal being set down.   
I followed the noise until I reached the bathroom. He quickly shut the light off when he heard my footsteps from behind.   
“Don’t come closer.” His voice mumbled from the darkness.

“Joe? What’s wrong?” 

“I’m fucked up Harley.” It was soft, but I still heard it. Then a sniffle. Was he.... crying?   
I felt myself crying again as well. “I am too...” I couldn’t help it, but the words just began to spill out of my mouth; I didn’t care about the consequences. “Joe... I....I killed my daddy. I killed him just now. And my mom is dead.”   
The tears poured out more now, and I pressed my hands to my face sobbing uncontrollably.   
Suddenly I felt his warm body pressed against mine. His arms wrapped around my waist, and his forehead sat heavily against mine. He was quiet.   
But then he moved back again, except just an inch away. I felt lips grace my forehead. They were wet and hot and scratchy.   
He kissed my hands that were still glued to my face, then sank lower, dropping onto his knees in front of me. Joe’s hands ran down my back and rested on my hips.   
That’s when his frame began to shake. He was crying. Silently. But I knew.   
I peeled my hands away to look down at him. He kept his head down. His sandy brown hair hung over his eyes.   
I slowly reached down to place my hands on his cheeks, but he flinched when I did so. “Harley.” He whispered, almost harshly.   
But I didn’t care. I wanted to look at him. I forced his jaw up to reveal his face.   
I nearly choked on thin air when I saw him. His eyes, full of tears, stared at me with a masked emptiness as I felt my knees go weak.   
His mouth had been filleted— two cuts on either side, a mutilation that was still bleeding. He had a thin black wire holding the flesh together. He looked like he was smiling, but he wasn’t. He wasn’t at all.   
My hands grasped his head, thumbs wiping away his tears as I sunk to my knees. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.   
“Joe.... why? Why would you do this?” I whispered. 

He leaned his head against my stomach. “They said....I wasn’t happy enough. Said my smiles were fake....” 

They? I could only think of his parents. I simply seethed at the fucking scum parents could be. 

“No... no you’ve always had the best smiles.” I replied. I didn’t know what else to say. He raised his eyes to me and his mouth twitched up into a painful smile. I could tell the pain was horrific by the way he shook even more, but he forced the smile anyway, like the pain didn’t matter.   
I placed my fingers on his ruby red lips. “Stop it.” 

But he simply took my fingers and kissed them, smearing blood all over them. Then he sat up, placing his hands on my cheeks now to wipe away my own tears. Joe leaned forward to kiss me with those scarred lips, but I retracted.   
“What about... Jason?” 

“Fuck Jason.” Joe grabbed my arms and set me against the wall. “I know how you feel about me Harley.” 

“And what’s that?” I whispered, eyes glued to his. 

He dragged a finger along my lips. “You need me.” His fingers felt so gentle against my skin and every time I’d shed a tear, he’d wipe it away. “We’re meant for each other.” 

His hand left my face and drifted down my body seductively. And I should feel ashamed of the next part. But I wasn’t. I set my forehead against his and kissed him. 

I woke up on his chest, as we both ended up falling asleep on the dusty floor. His heartbeat was slow and peaceful against my cheek. I gently shifted my face to look up at him— the morning sun shined on him to reveal the horrific mutilation of his lips even clearer. The bleeding stopped, but it left behind dry scabs and blotches. He really did a number on himself. I had never seen such a thing. It made me sad— or no, I guess furious. I was furious at the people who could make him feel so insecure and depressed.   
I sighed, placing my head back down on his chest. But I couldn’t relax now. After a moment, I slowly got up, trying not to wake him.   
I went into the bathroom and flipped on the light. The sink was bloody. The knife that had done the work sat on the side next to the wire he used for stitches.   
Another sigh crossed my lips as I looked into the mirror. I didn’t look fine myself. I looked like a madwoman. My hair was all disheveled in it’s ponytail, and I had red kiss marks on my forehead. It was his blood.   
I turned the sink on but then hesitated. For some reason I almost didn’t want to wash them off. But no, that was silly. I splashed my face a few times with freezing water before wiping. Then I took the towel off the hook, wet it with some more water, this time warm, and went back over to Joe. He was still sleeping.   
I kneeled down next to him. I felt like a surgeon, leaning forward with the towel slowly, not wanting to wake him or hurt him, as I attempted to clean the blood off of his scars. But before I could even press the soaked fabric to his cheek, a hand shot up and grabbed my wrist.   
It shocked me so much I gasped. “Joe!”

His eyes opened and he looked at me with dark eyes. “What are you doing?” 

“I’m just.... I wanted to clean you up.” His relentless gaze made me falter. “I want you to heal properly.” 

His grip on my arm was tight. But after a moment, he released me. “I don’t want you touching them without my permission, Harley. That is... unless of course we kiss again. Otherwise no touchy. If you know what’s good for you.”   
At the last part his voice got low, commanding. But I didn’t seem to care about that. The thought that went through my brain was when were we going to kiss again?   
He gestured for me to come closer, and allowed me to clean his wounds. He never flinched in pain like he did last night. Today he was different. Tougher. The only sign of pain that would show through would be an eye twitch every now and then.   
When I was finished, he no longer had blood clinging to his face. I suppose it looked less grizzly. “There. All better.”   
I smiled at him, setting the towel down.   
He raised his arm so that I could snuggle close next to him. But my smile began to disappear. I remembered yesterday. I remember why I came here in the first place.   
I glanced down to my hands. They were clean, but I felt like the blood was still stained on them. Tears crinkled the corners of my eyes. “Joe...” I squeaked, “What am I supposed to do?” 

“About what?” 

“My parents, they’re dead.” My frame began to shake, but I quickly tried to wipe the tears away. “I murdered him.” 

I felt fingers caress my cheek. “Hey, look at me.” He commanded, “Remember what I told you, yeah? If you want something, go ahead and take it.”

I shook my head, and a few more tears dribbled down my cheeks but he wiped them away. “But I didn’t want to murder him.” 

“You wanted to leave though, right? And the only way of getting your freedom was to get rid of daddy. And besides, he hurt you pumpkin. So in my eyes, he had it coming.” He paused to scan over my emotionless reaction. Then he said, “Some might think it’s a sin. But I’m proud of you.” 

Proud? He was.... proud of me? The word sat heavily in my chest. And it was a knee jerk reaction, but I grew butterflies in my stomach. Not knots. I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling waves of shame. Why was I acting this way? I felt honored that he was proud of me. Honored. That wasn’t the type of feeling any normal person should have after murdering another human. But I wasn’t normal anymore was I?   
I’m practically cheating on my boyfriend with this chaos theorizing, self-injuring John Doe that I only wanted to use as my psychology project. But he turned out to be so much more.   
I started to giggle. It was more-so at myself and how screwed up I am, but it surprised him.   
He smiled down at me the best he could with the stitches and kissed my forehead. “That’s my Harley-girl.” 

Just then, my phone went off in my bag. I nearly jumped out of my skin. Holy shit. It was the cops. It must be.   
I climbed over Joe’s lap to grab the phone from the bag. I was instantly relieved to see it was just Pammy.   
I answered but I wasn’t fast enough to say hello when she started talking. 

_“Harleen you need to come down to Gotham General right away.”_

I furrowed my brows. “What?”

_“It’s Jason. They found him. But it’s not good.”_

-

Joe drove me in his Camaro to the hospital, but that’s as far as he would go.   
“You’re not coming with me?” I asked, but it was a stupid question I instantly regretted.   
He glanced at me with annoyance and shook his head. He wore a thick scarf around his face to conceal his scarred mouth. Obviously he wouldn’t want to come in, Harleen.   
I nodded and slipped out of the car. 

“Text me when you’re ready to leave.” He said, starting the car up again. “I gotta do some things.” 

I nodded again silently and stepped away so he could zoom off. I sighed, turning towards the hospital. I couldn’t prepare myself enough for what came next. 

-

Each corridor seemed long and never ending. But I finally reached his room in the ICU. I could see Pamela, Selina, and Bruce standing around his bed. Even Ozzy Cobblepot and Thomas Elliot were there.   
When Pam saw me in the doorway, she rushed over to put her hands on my shoulders. “Harleen. Just.... brace yourself.” 

“Let me see him.” I simply responded and shoved past her. 

To be honest I was expecting something simple. Stupid. Like a broken arm or something from his reckless tendencies.   
But what I saw chilled me to the bone.   
His body laid there wrapped entirely in white bandages— despite the occasional blood stain. Down his throat was a long, thick plastic tube that connected to a machine. And only one arm was exposed so that tubes could run from his veins into more machines. His skin was blue and red. Literally all of it was one big bruise, with bloodied cuts littered throughout. I couldn’t believe my eyes. My legs felt like jello as I continued to move closer to him. His face was bandaged too. I couldn’t even look into his eyes because of how swollen they were.   
A gasp escaped my lips and I could feel the tears return. “Jason?” 

Bruce slowly approached me from behind. “He’s in a coma, Harleen.” He sighed and shook his head. “They said he was beaten.”

“Beaten? This badly? By who?” I asked, placing a light hand on Jason’s leg. 

Bruce shrugged. “We don’t know. No one knows. He was missing for a few days.... then someone found him in a warehouse near Arkham. Police found a crowbar at the scene but there were no prints.”   
Who could have done such a thing? And why? I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling overwhelmed by everything. 

“We won’t know anything until he wakes up.” Bruce went over to sit in the guest chair next to the bed. Thomas slapped a hand down on his shoulder for support. Seeing Jason like this made me feel even more guilty for kissing Joe. But things were different now. Of course I’d stay Jason’s best friend forever..... if he even survives.   
I bit my lip so hard I could taste blood. My head throbbed. A hand was placed on my shoulder and I turned to see Pam looking at me with concern. “Are you going to be okay?”   
I was going to lie. Just smile and say yes. But I shook my head, more tears streaming down. “No.”   
Pammy brought me into her arms and we stood there sobbing.

-

“Hey, where are you going?” Pamela asked me as I checked my phone and left the room.   
I had stayed at the hospital for at least four hours, crying and hoping that he would wake up. But no such luck.  
“I think it’s time for me to go now.” I replied, wiping my face. 

“Do you have a ride home?” 

I nodded. “Yeah.” But Pamela frowned and hooked her arm with mine.   
“Then let me walk you out.” She said with a small smile. 

She escorted me to the lobby and gave me another hug.   
“Are you going to stay?” I asked. 

“Yeah, I’m gonna check on Harvey. He’s on the third floor.” She sighed, shaking her head.   
Oh yeah, I almost forgot about him. I was about to say that I wouldn’t mind seeing him too, but the rumbling of a Camaro crept up behind me. I sighed too, gaze dropping to the floor. “I’ll see you later, Pammy.” 

I turned to see Joe waiting for me behind the wheel. He still had the scarf on. Pamela glanced over my shoulder to see him and scowled. “You’re going with him?”   
I simply nodded, flashing her a small smile and rounded the car to hop in besides him. I waved at her before he drove away. But she didn’t seem happy at all. 

Joe drove me back to the apartment in the Narrows. I hadn’t been in this area in years. It was scary— ex-criminals and criminals alike all from Blackgate seem to live here. Plus it’s close to Arkham.   
I shifted lower in my seat when we sat at a stop sign and some creepy guy stared into the car. Joe just smirked at me silently.   
When he parked the car, he turned to look at me and stated, “I want you to live with me.” 

“Live... with you?” My cheeks burnt red. I pushed my glasses up my nose in nervousness. But where else could I go? I couldn’t go back home. Not now. 

He nodded and got out of the car, coming around to pull me out too. He escorted me into the dark apartment once more but this time it was different. Cleaner.   
He brought me to the bedroom— various candles scattered around lit the place, and on the bed was a red rose. He picked it up and handed it to me after taking his scarf off.   
“Stay here with me.” He paused, then added, “Darling.”   
I could tell he wasn’t used to this romantic stuff, the way he chose his words and shifted his weight around. But it was sweet. I took the rose from him and sniffled, as it reminded me of the circus.   
Joe stepped closer to peel my glasses off, then he collided his lips with mine— kissing me roughly. He brought my body on top of his as we fell onto the bed.   
“Doesn’t it hurt?” I asked once we broke apart. I glanced down at his scars that were red from the friction.   
But he didn’t answer me. Instead, he grabbed my hair and yanked me back into another kiss. We made out until our shirts were off and I could begin to taste the metallic flavor of blood seeping out of his wounds.   
“Joe, you’re bleeding.” I whispered, climbing on top of him. With my hand on his scarred shoulder, I tried to keep him pinned down. But he kept a fistful of my hair still, and hooking his hand around the back of my neck he forced me closer, this time kissing softer, smaller kisses.   
His hand let go of my hair and traced fingers down my jaw, down my neck, chest... finally stopping at a breast. But I suddenly took his hand and removed it.   
“No.... no, I can’t.” I muttered and slipped off of him breaking the moment. I just couldn’t. I was hurting too much, and I felt like the guilt would consume me if I chose to continue. You would think all the pain I was feeling would drive me to have sex with him, but instead it was doing the opposite. And I wasn’t ready. It was all too fast. I actually felt like throwing up. These two days have been too much, like a nightmare I can’t wake up from.   
Joe glared at the ceiling for a moment before sitting up. He turned away from me, shifting to sit at the edge of the bed. He grabbed a pack of cigarettes from the nightstand and proceeded to light one up in frustration.   
I silently slipped my shirt back on before pulling my knees to my chest. I could already feel the wilts of hickeys on my neck and scratches from his nails down my back; he was worse than Jason. But it was okay with me. A small part of me wanted him to mark me. It showed that I was at least someone’s.   
After a bit of silence, Joe finally spoke. “I want to go to the Halloween dance. Together.”   
The dance was a few days away. I cringed at hearing it; the last time I heard something about it was from Jason’s lips. But I nodded. “Okay.... but.... are you sure? I mean—“ 

“Why the fuck not?” He slowly glared over his shoulder at me. Then he puffed another drag. 

I shrugged. “Are you going to be okay going back to school regardless?” I gestured to his mouth. If I were him, I’d be nervous to go back looking like that.   
But like always, he didn’t care.   
He looked down at his hands, then snuffed out the cigarette in the ash tray. “This is who I am now, Harley.”   
Joe stood, and walked over to the vanity, looking at himself in the mirror. He was a smiling freak, an ugly bastard. His head dropped down, and his frame began to shake.   
I thought he was crying again, so I sat up in concern, but I was wrong. He was laughing. And it only grew louder and louder.   
Then he stopped suddenly. He turned to look at me, grinning like a madman— a wide smile, scars and all. “Ya know why I love Gotham? Because it has freaks like you and me.”   
Joe leaped onto the bed and pulled me into his arms again, pushing my cheeks up to form a smile on my concerned face. “ _Why so serious_ , pumpkin?”


	9. Chapter 9

It was strange waking up to another man in the bed, but at the same time it was refreshing. I felt protected for the first time in my life. I didn’t have the weight of fear my father would constantly give me anymore.   
Today was a Monday, but it seemed like Joe had no intention of going to school. As he poured me a bowl of cereal, I glanced around the apartment. It was weird seeing it in the day, fully lit. The walls held empty spaces from removed photographs but otherwise things appeared in tact. It was decorated like any normal family apartment with vases, books, blankets, Knick knacks of the like, etcetera. I just couldn’t understand why all the photographs were gone. 

“Can I have a spoon please?” I asked when my bowl was full. 

“Oh yeah.” Joe hummed and spun around, looking through a few drawers until he found the silverware. He plopped it in my bowl then sat down next to me.   
He drank chocolate milk from a straw. “My parents are coming home today.” 

Hearing that I raised my eyebrows, slowing my chewing. “Oh really?”   
I thought I would never see these parents of his.   
Joe nodded, leaning forward to take another slurp from the straw. “They aren’t going to expect to see you. Or me for that matter. They thought I ran away yesterday. ....So that’s where they’ve been. Looking for me.”

His story sounded strange to me. If he was telling it correctly, then they must have gotten into a fight and Joe left. They figured he ran away and went after him, but little did they know he came back to the house. That’s when he decided to cut up his face... and then I came over. But that still left a whole day in between.  
“You’re telling me they’ve been gone this whole time looking for you?” I asked skeptically. “It’s been two days!” 

He shrugged. “I told them I was moving to Metropolis.” Joe paused and narrowed his eyes at me. “You don’t believe me?” 

I sighed, slowly stirring my spoon around in the milk. I didn’t want to admit it, but my eyes being cast to the ground revealed it all. His jaw clenched slightly, and the little movement made me think he was going to yell at me. Instead, he shifted closer and raised a hand to place at the back of my head, stroking my hair.   
“Harley,” he began, voice persuasive, “Why would I lie to you? You, out of all people? What could I possibly gain from that?” His green eyes stared at me with an alluring smile. “Besides, I wouldn’t be a good patient if I lied to my doctor. Right?” His lips brushed against mine, almost teasingly.   
I guess he was right. Why would he lie? What good would it bring? I’ve already seen him at his weakest..... he allowed me— trusted me— to see that. So why couldn’t I trust him?   
I sighed again, this time giving him a nod. “I’m sorry Joe... I was just a little skeptical. I believe you.”   
That made him smile, and he kissed me for real, but after a moment I felt a hand around my neck. It was tight, but not enough for a cut airway— yet. His eyes were dark as his lips traveled up my jaw, and he whispered in my ear, “Promise me you’ll never doubt me again Harley.”   
I placed my hands around the one on my throat gently and nodded. “Promise.” 

His smile grew wider and he released his grip, moving his fingers to tuck a piece of my hair behind my ear.   
Right then there was movement down the hall. The front door swung open and I could hear two pairs of feet come towards the kitchen. Joe stood, choosing to stand in front of me as two people appeared in the archway. A man and a woman. She looked older about in her fifties, and so did he. He looked like a strong man, harsh. He wore a jacket that said USMC. _Marine._  
The woman gasped in shock when she saw Joe, and instantly cowered behind her husband. “What are you doing here?!” She screamed. “I thought we told you to—“ 

“I came back.” He shrugged nonchalantly. “I felt bad I guess.” 

The woman started crying. But the man stood in defense. “My God, what did you do to your face?” 

Joe reached up to feel the bumps of his scars before smiling again. “Do you like it?”

“You look horrific!” The woman sobbed. 

Joe drew back, looking offended by her response. He glanced down to his feet, gaining tears in his eyes. “You made me like this. Said I wasn’t a good boy. Said I wasn’t normal like the rest, wasn’t happy. So I did what I thought would make you proud.” He raised his head, tears glistening his eyes but he wore a grand smile. “I put a smile on my face.” 

“You’re sick!” The man said with a disgusted scowl. 

“But dad, you made me do it!” Joe exclaimed, stepping towards him. 

The man stepped back instantly to leave space between them. “Don’t call me that!” He glanced over at me with wide eyes. “Who’s this now? Your psychopath whore? You need help!” He turned to grab the home phone. “I’m calling Arkham.”   
But Joe stepped closer again, trying to object, “Dad please—“   
That’s when the man swung his fist around and punched him in the face. Joe went tumbling to the ground, gripping his face.   
I instantly shot up, propelling myself towards him with my own flying fists. Like hell he could just punch my man and get away with it.   
But he was strong. Too strong. He grabbed my throat and slammed me against the kitchen table. I couldn’t breathe. My face began to turn purple as I struggled to survive, my arms flailing. As my vision started to grow fuzzy, that’s when my hand hit something cold and metal. I took it and flung it into the side of his head.   
He immediately dropped me, and I collapsed to the ground gasping for air. Soon the man dropped like a ton of bricks, with blood pouring out of his skull. He was dead. I stabbed him.   
The woman screamed bloody murder, but Joe punched her right in the face. Then he took her long brown hair and slammed her head into the title. That’s when I heard it. The laughter.   
It was coming from him. Every time he slammed her head into the floor, the louder it got. He was enjoying it.   
All I could see was red. Red everywhere. The dead corpse in front of me stared at me. I closed my eyes but he was still there.   
Then my dad was there. Laying on top of him with a knife in his chest. Then my mother with slit wrists. A pile. And it was all my doing. The laughter never stopped.   
And soon, like a contagious drug, I was doing it too. Laughing.   
_I suppose you can’t spell slaughter without laughter._  
Suddenly there was a hand reaching out to me. I took it, and Joe pulled me up into his arms. He was covered in blood. I couldn’t stop laughing at the sight of it. It was like my brain finally exploded. He wasn’t smiling anymore, but instead he kissed my forehead, then my nose, my cheeks. His hands stroked my hair peacefully as I laughed into his chest.   
The only thing he said was, “That’s my Harley-girl.” 

-

That night he bought me a big tub of ice cream. I didn’t know how he knew, but he got me my favorite flavor. Double Chocolate Truffle.   
I don’t know if it was to distract me from any grief of the day’s bloodshed or a “proud of you” present but I appreciated it whole heartedly. I sat on the couch with pjs on and my freshly blow dried hair up in pigtails while two strange men finished up bleaching the whole kitchen. They removed the bodies too.   
Joe called them. I didn’t ask how he knew them.   
My ice cream tub was almost empty when another special alert from GCN kicked on. It was more news coverage of that Batman. But Robin was missing.   
I cocked my head to the side, watching as the Batman swung around skyscrapers with just a grappling hook. Then there was footage of him beating up some big guy. I nearly dropped my tub of ice cream when the camera revealed that it was Bane from school! His face was all black and blue from the punches.   
“What the fuck.” I muttered. Bane was a scary dude sure, but did he deserve such a beating?? What gave this bat-dude any right?! I shook my head in annoyance before changing the channel to watch Looney Toons. After an episode or two, the front door creaked open and I could hear feet shuffle in. The hall was dark but I could see the black mass of Joe peel off his coat to hang it on the hook before trudging into his room. The door slammed behind him.   
A frown pulled at my lips, wondering if he was sad at all over his parents’ deaths. But when Bugs Bunny appeared on screen again, I turned my attention towards him and ate away my troubles with each spoonful of truffle-y ice cream. 

Joe was still sleeping when I woke up the next morning. His face was all scrunched up like he was having an angry dream. I leaned over to give his forehead a light kiss before glancing over at the clock. Seven thirty AM. On the inside, I desperately wanted to go back to school. All my friends were there, and it bothered me to know I might get lower than an A- in my classes due to absences. So I climbed out of bed and tipped toed to my bag of packed clothes. I barely had anything good in there, just the essentials. Besides I was such in a rush to get out I didn’t even think to take nice things with me!   
All I had were a pair of grey sweatpants and a Gotham High hoodie. Guess it was gonna be a ‘lazy day’ look today. I quickly washed up, threw the clothes on, and did my hair. I chose to do low pig tails today.   
Then I left a note for Joe on the counter: 

_Went to school. XX Harley_

I took one more glance at him, smiling slightly as he rolled over in the bed, yanking all the covers towards him. Then I left. 

-

But the day was not a good one. I was being completely stupid thinking that school would help me feel better.   
I was immediately called to the principals office once I stepped on foot on the premise.   
Principle Al Ghoul glared at me over the desk. “Miss Quinzel you skipped two days of school without notice.” 

I shrugged, trying to hide deeper into my sweatshirt. “Well, I mean... Jason was put in the hospital so.... I’ve just been going through a tough time.” 

“Ah yes, Mister Todd. First Dent, now him.” He sighed, shaking his head. “All the good ones are dropping like flies.” He leaned forward, those dark eyes peering through my soul. “Stay on the right track Miss Quinzel. It pains me already to give you two demerits.” 

I nearly groaned at that news. Never in my life had I gotten a demerit. And now I have two. And to make things worse, I was late to first period. The teacher yelled at me.   
Lunch wasn’t better either. Pam was at a science fair and Selina was no where in sight. 

“Harleen!” Eddie exclaimed as I plopped down in front of him. “Where were you yesterday?” 

Killing people. I heaved a sigh, placing a hand to my cheek. “I didn’t feel well.” I lied. 

“I’m sorry, must be a hard week for you.” At least he understood. 

I forced a kind smile towards him, but it immediately slipped when Johnny pointed to my neck. “What’s that?” He asked blatantly.   
I didn’t even register his presence until he spoke. I narrowed my eyes at him as I felt the hickie on my neck. I forgot to cover it up. “It’s nothing Johnathan.” 

“Yeah sure.” He muttered. “You find another guy to fuck you already?” 

I nearly choked on my lunch. Eddie had wide eyes, equally surprised. But I was fuming. I had to squeeze my hands tight enough so to not punch him in the face. I slowly glanced over to him, about to spit back some venomous come back but then I noticed something.   
He was different. Like, completely different. He had dark rings around his eyes and was extremely pale. His brown hair hung in his face and he was wearing a hood. 

“Johnny, that was rude. You should apologize.” Eddie scolded, but Johnny simply dragged his fork through his mashed potatoes silently.   
After a moment, he glanced up and looked at both of us. He gained a smile before saying, “Oh hey Harleen! Where were you yesterday? We were looking for you.” as if he just noticed me.   
Eddie and I were both floored. What just happened? 

“Uh.... I was sick, Johnny.” I replied again. 

Eddie reached over and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Hey man, I think you should lay off the drugs.”   
But he just started eating his potatoes without reply.   
I wondered if he fried his brain or if the nightmares finally got to him.   
I decided to take this weird moment to throw out my food. I wasn’t hungry anyway, so I took my tray and got up.   
But about two steps from the trash can, Barbra Gordon rammed into me spilling her tray all over my outfit. I had potatoes and gravy smeared everywhere.   
“Whoops.” She gasped innocently. “Didn’t see you there.” 

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” I groaned, looking at the hideous mess all over me. Even my pigtails had gravy in them. “Gordon you bitch, watch where you’re going!” 

Barbra crossed her arms over her chest at me and shifted her weight to the left hip. “Oh please Harleen. Speak for yourself. Any besides, I think this look fits you.” 

I dropped my tray to the floor as I felt tears welling up in my eyes. I wanted to smash her face into the table. I wanted to throw her out the window. I wanted to take someone’s spork and shove it through her eye. And of course all of those daydreams felt like the right thing to do, but I couldn’t. I just couldn’t. There were too many teachers, too many opportunities to get in serious trouble.   
That’s when the laughter began. And not from me, from everyone else in the whole damn cafeteria. Everyone except for Eddie and Johnny where making fun of me. Tears began to run down my cheeks as I dashed out of there as quick as I could.   
I ran and ran until I reached a silent hall next to the Gym. I should probably just gun it to the exit. This day wasn’t going to get any better I could just feel it.   
Right then, the gym doors burst open and Pam stumbled out, coughing and choking on air.   
“Pammy!” I shouted, rushing over to her. She swatted me away, taking a moment to chug a whole bottle of water. She coughed some more before gaining some composure. Then she turned to me with a deep breath. “Harls..... good god what happened to you?”   
She eyed my gravy mess up and down. I scowled and placed my hands on my hips. “What’s wrong with you?! We’re you choking??” 

She shook her head. “My science project. It backfired. I was mixing chemicals and tried to feed them to my plant but..... I guess it wasn’t a good mix because it shot back at me in a gas form...” she shivered and took another swig at her water. “I swallowed like half of it.” 

“Holy shit, Pam, are you gonna be okay?” 

“I think so....” she sighed again, then gestured at me. “Ok now you go.”

“Barbra spilled her lunch on me. And I think on purpose.” 

“What a bitch.”

“I know.” I felt like steam was pouring out of my ears and nose just thinking of her. But then I also sniffled. “I’m going to go home Pammy. Today was too much.” 

She nodded and came closer, reaching out to brush stray strains of my hair behind my ear. “It’s okay Harleen. It’s okay. Just go home. I think I’m gonna go home too actually.” She stepped away and went over to the double doors of the gym. “I’d hug you, but ya know.” She smirked a little at my appearance then left. 

I smiled a little at that, then turned to the exit. It was definitely not smart to come today. I dreaded taking the subway to the Narrows dressed like this. 

I didn’t have a key yet to the apartment so I was locked out, but after two knocks the door swung open to reveal Joe with a furious look on his face.   
“Joe...” I murmured. 

“Why the fuck did you go without telling me?! Your parents are dead now, Harley it’s not good to just show up without—“ 

I didn’t let him finish lecturing me as I pushed my way into his arms, pressing my face against his chest sobbing like a madman. He quickly quieted down and was silent for a few moments to allow me to cry before grabbing my pigtail to peel me away.   
He scanned my whole body up and down while he held my hair in his fist, then he asked calmly, “What happened?” 

“B-Barbra Gordon. She’s such a bitch.” I sobbed. 

“Well, what did you do to her?” 

“Me?” I exclaimed. “I didn’t go anything! She just came up and shoved her gross lunch all over me! Said I look better this way.”

Joe ran his tongue over his scarred lips and narrowed his eyes. “No, what did you do to her for doing this?” 

I stopped crying for a moment and pondered his question. Well.... the only thing I did was imagine her death. Then I ran away. Just thinking about that lame answer made the tears spring back. I sniffled, looking down to my feet in a silent reply.   
He heaved a sigh at that, yanking me into the house by my pigtail still. “People are cruel Harley. You need to give them what they deserve.” He sat me down on the covered toilet in the bathroom and began to run the tub, kneeling on the floor in front of me.   
I watched him as he waited for the water to get hot and fill up. His scars were actually healing nicely, but they were slightly red and puffy from so much movement and irritation.   
“Are you mad at me?” I asked softly. 

Joe exhaled deeply and leaned against the rim of the tub by his ribs. “Well, you did leave without telling me this morning.” 

“I left a note, didn’t you get it?”

“Doesn’t count.” He shook his head, “And second, I’m disappointed that you didn’t stand up for yourself, Harls.” 

I sighed, glancing away from him so he wouldn’t see my tears. “Well, what did you want me to do? Kill her?” I whispered the last part, half-heartedly joking. 

He shrugged, dipping a finger into the water to check it. “I don’t see why not?” 

My eyes widened at his serious proposition. Seeing my reaction, he shrugged again and prodded the side of his mouth with his tongue. “One less Barbra Gordon isn’t going to hurt the world.” 

All this killing and killing talk made my head spin again. I had an upset stomach all of a sudden, as if my morals and ethics were screaming at me from within. But when he smiled at me all the danger alert sirens melted away.   
“Let me think about it.” Was what I actually said.   
Joe turned and shut the water off before standing. He went ahead and peeled off my sweatshirt, throwing it to the side, then helped me take the sweatpants off which made me blush.   
I sat down in the scalding hot water with my bra and undies on like a bathing suit.   
He just stood there awkwardly for a moment then turned to leave, but then I said, “Aren’t ya gonna come in too?” 

He paused, and visibly sighed. I thought he would keep on walking, but instead, in a quick decision he took off his shirt and shimmied out of his own sweatpants to join me in the tub. He kept mute, looking at me with those darkened green eyes before leaning forward to kiss me. The wire from his stitches scratched my cheeks but I didn’t care. After a moment he took my wet pigtail and yanked me closer to go into his arms. I twisted around and pressed my back to his chest as he held me. My head throbbed. “Joe, can’t you just—“

“If you don’t like it then stop wearing your hair like that.” Was all he said, resting his chin on my forehead. 

I simply sniffled, trying to rest against him but I was just so upset by everything. I was upset over Barbra, over Jason...   
When I sniffled for the third time, Joe let out a clearly frustrated snarly sigh. He made me look up at him by taking my jaw. “How am I supposed to make you happy, huh? How am I supposed to make you laugh?”   
He reached over and grabbed a loose razor blade that was sitting on the shower shelf. The blade was pressed against my cheek but not too harshly to draw blood.   
“Do I give you a smile too? Would you like that sweetheart?”   
I could barely breathe; his face read stone-cold seriousness, and I didn’t know how to react. “Joe please—“ the words tumbled out. 

“Joe please? Please, please what?” He mocked, cocking his head to the side to glare into my eyes.   
There was a frightening silence. One flick of a wrist and he could cut my cheek wide open. I was waiting for it, trying to brace myself the best I could for the pain.   
He started laughing at me. I glanced up at him to see a wide grin on his face and genuine laughter. The blade was removed and set away.   
“I’m joking.” He sputtered, waving a hand. “I’m joking Harls! HA! You should see the look on your face.” 

My eyes were wide as I tried to understand his twisted humor. It was like when we killed those people. The laughter helped. It was like a coping mechanism almost. Our coping mechanism.   
But of course he wouldn’t have hurt me like that. Of course. Right?   
It was when he bopped my nose that I slowly began to join him in the giggles.   
We laughed together like this was the funniest thing in the whole goddamn world!  
“Why so serious?” I teased at him which made him laugh even harder. That’s when one of the wires sprang loose on the left side of his wound; blood began gushing out. I quickly placed a finger to his lips, and his giggles were slowly stifled.   
“I think we should just keep quiet now.” I said in a motherly tone, grabbing a facecloth from the rim of the tub to pat the blood away.   
Joe rolled his eyes like a child. “What fun is that?” He yanked me onto his lap and began kissing my neck obviously not caring for his wound or the blood. I enjoyed his lips against my skin, and the way he would hold me in his arms. But after a minute I whispered, “Joe, when are you gonna come back to school? It’s not the same without you there...”   
That’s when he paused ravishing me with kisses and pulled away to look into my eyes. “Well, let’s see. You’re gonna need to come up with a story with what happened to your parents. The cops will find out soon and that means they’ll notify the school. Obviously you can’t spill that you killed them. I’m surprised they didn’t pull you aside for an interview today.” He paused to narrow his eyes and chew on his lip. “Oh wait. No. GCPD sucks ass. You might actually get lucky; by the time they reach the apartment to investigate the bodies will already be completely decomposed by then!” He laughed with a smirk.   
It felt strange to hear reference to my parents in the past tense. But the guilt wasn’t there in my gut anymore.   
“So I guess that just leaves one thing.” He continued, “You think they’re ready to see this handsome mug yet again?” He gestured to his grizzly scars with a prideful smile. 

I giggled at him, rolling my eyes. “Who cares what they think. They’re either scared of you already or they’re interested in you because of the rumors. Your new look will just make it all the more better.” 

“Speaking of new looks.... I wanna take you shopping.” He grinned and leaned closer so he could brush his lips teasingly against mine. “You can’t be wearing gravy to school.”


	10. Chapter 10

After drying up and throwing on something not drenched in gravy or mashed potatoes, Joe drove me to the mall in downtown Gotham. He had a scarf around his neck and propped up to cover his scars— which told me that he must be still shy about it despite anything he said.   
He kept his hands in his coat pockets as he quietly followed me along through the busy mall. Even though he looked like he was about to murder anyone who looked at him funny, I on the other hand was ecstatic to be here. I had not gone shopping in forever! It was like the mall was calling my name, and I skipped down the corridor happily.   
Usually I would go into JC Penny and grab a bunch of blouses or something. But I wasn’t feeling it this time. I wanted something different, something fun.   
I grabbed Joe’s arm and dragged him into a woman’s clothing store.  
Joe looked like he wanted to die as I shifted through the racks with excitement. “You better not be regretting anything.” I teased.   
He simply grumbled and walked around a rack to look at a few things himself. 

After I tired a few hundred clothes on, Joe was finally able to buy some for me. I think if I asked to try on another pair of pants he would have strangled me.   
“I hate paying for this stuff.” He muttered as we walked out of the store. 

“I appreciate it sooo much darling!” I quickly went on my tip toes to kiss his cheek. 

He sighed as we walked on, but then he suddenly stopped me in front of a hair salon. Joe grabbed my arm now and yanked me inside. He went right over to the boxed hair dye.  
I placed my hands on my hips as I watched him. “You want hair dye?”   
He didn’t reply, instead he reached forward and grabbed an olive green color from the shelf. Glancing over his shoulder, he made sure the coast was clear before quickly ripping off the price tag and slipped the box dye into one of our bags.   
Then he grabbed my arm again and pulled me out with him. Now I understood what he meant by his hate for paying.   
“We, ah, need to find costumes for the dance...” he proposed as he strode in front of me with his hands in his pockets. He glanced at me over his shoulder, “Or at least, figure out what we’re gonna be.” 

I stopped for a moment to juggle the heavy bags in my hands and thought. “Hmm. Well, I think I saw one of those pop up Halloween stores somewhere downstairs!” 

“Fantastic.” He smirked and we took the escalator to the first floor of the mall. The store was small, but the huge decorations of blow up ghosts and bats made it all the more better.   
Joe strolled right in, but not before purposely stepping on the “STEP HERE” floor patch which triggered a big spider to pounce out at me. I shrieked, dropping my bags as I frantically tried to hide behind him. But he simply laughed and shoved me away. “Now this is my type of place.” He snickered, going deeper into the dark store.   
I gingerly picked up the bags, being extra careful not to step on any of those patches myself, but when I turned around I noticed that Joe was missing.   
Oh jeez. I took a big gulp as I crept down a narrow isle way full of scary masks.  
“J-Joe?” I called in a hushed tone. Suddenly the screams and laughter of other customers where heard as the same spider jumped out at them in the doorway.  
A shutter went down my spine as I looked at the whole wall of masks— I particularly did not like the pumpkin head one.   
I peeled my eyes away and turned the corner, instantly bumping into something thick. Razor sharp teeth and red eyes was all I could see before turning away in a scream.   
Hands came down upon me and forced me to turn back— and then there was that familiar laughter. Joe took off the wolf man mask he was wearing and chucked it to the side. “Jesus Harley, I didn’t know you were that much of a wuss!”

Relief filled me at the sight of him, but at the same time my cheeks grew hot in embarrassment. “I’m not! I’m not, I— I just don’t remember the last time I’ve ever been in a haunted house.” Then I quickly added, “And I know this ain’t one, but they do a damn well job making it scary!” 

Joe laughed at me again, shaking his head. Then he grabbed my hand and pulled me through another isle. “I saw this and it made me think of you.”   
Before I knew it we were in the clown section. Clown makeup, clown shoes, clown wigs, clown this and that, everywhere! And in the middle of it all, a mannequin standing on a pedestal.  
She wore a black and red corset with matching black and red pants, there was also a white clown collar with matching ruffle cuffs around the wrists.   
“Why don’t you try it on?” Joe grinned.   
I nodded silently, and in the blink of an eye, I was in the dressing room staring at myself in the mirror.   
I looked great. More than great actually. And it fit perfectly. There was only one thing though....   
I ripped off the collar and cuffs, then slid on a black blazer I had recently bought.   
My hair had been down to dry this whole time after getting it wet from the bath, but I threw them up into pig tails again to complete the look.   
Joe was waiting outside of the dressing room when I came to see him. I was a little shy at first, and when he saw me all he did was stare.  
“Does it look bad? I’m sorry, I’ll change.” I muttered, but before I could turn he grabbed my pig tail to stop me.   
His lips collided with mine and he kissed me with an excitement about him.   
“You look fucking sexy.” Joe muttered, making me blush even more.   
He spun me around to look in the full length mirror while he stood behind me with his hands on my shoulders.   
“What do you think?” He asked slyly. 

“I like it.” 

He nodded. “When I saw it, I thought to myself, Harley would look great in it. You know why? Because you’re my little harlequin.” He paused, “Harleen Quinzel— or rather, Harley—“

—Quinn.” I finished for him, which made him smile wider. His hands shifted around and grabbed my cheeks, pulling them to make a smile. 

“Now all you need is some makeup.” He spun away and ripped a ton of grease paint packets from the wall to collect them in his arms before dropping them in our already full bags. He instructed me to grab my clothes from the dressing room and when I did he asked, “Are you ready?” 

“For what?” 

“To run.” He grinned and grabbing a clown mask from the wall he dashed out of the store, sounding the alarm.   
My eyes were wide as an employee ran out from the back room. “Hey!” He yelled at me, but I grabbed the shopping bags and bolted out of there, still in costume.   
Joe was a few feet a head of me by the time I caught up to him after following the sound of laughter. The mall cops were chasing us but they were too slow.   
Joe’s scarf had fallen down from around his mouth, so everyone could see those brutal scars. People were gasping and stepping away as we came barreling through. What a spectacle we were! Some girl in a clown outfit and this joker with the self inflicted facial deformity. In all my years studying to be a psychologist I never once thought this would be my Thursday afternoon!   
But glancing over towards Joe, seeing the excited sparkle in his eye— made everything feel a whole lot saner. 

-

At least it was a Friday. So if things went bad again, I’d have the weekend to recover. This is what I kept telling myself over and over as Joe parked the Camaro in the school lot.   
He had his scarf over his mouth again, but it didn’t match with the day’s weather. It was a surprising fifty six degrees for a fall day in Gotham. I was excited to wear my new skirt and off the shoulder shirt.   
Joe got to wear his black muscle tee, but that scarf looked whacky. He was glaring over the steering wheel towards the school while he took the keys out.   
I frowned, reaching over to place a hand on his cheek. “Place take the scarf off.” 

His dark eyes narrowed and he glanced to me, reaching up to grab my wrist tightly. 

“Please Joe. There’s nothing to be worried about. I thought you said it was a part of you now!” I tried to persuade him, cocking my head to the side with a small smile.   
I wasn’t too sure why he was so shy all of a sudden about it. He’d been going off on speeches about how this was the new him and blah blah for days now. But even then, he’d still wear the damn scarf.   
Joe turned back to look to the school again, glaring mostly. “You go in first.” Was all he said. 

“Joe, c’mon.” I sighed, reaching to him again after he dropped my hand. 

But he shoved me away and snapped, “What did I say?”

My shoulder began to throb from being slammed into the side of the door, and I huffed, grabbing my bag to leave. I made sure to slam the door behind me.   
Because he made me go in first, I didn’t get to see him until lunch. He even skipped anatomy which freaked me out. I didn’t know what he was doing, and half of me feared that he left me here or something. As the class dissected a fetal pig, I went over a list of possible reasons for him to leave me.   
Was it because he was scared the cops would get to him? Maybe he feared he’d be seen as an accessory to my parent’s murder? Hm, no.... that wouldn’t make sense. He didn’t kill my parents, but I killed his. So if anything it was mostly me to blame. Was it because my breath smelled in the morning? Because I took sheets?   
Because I wouldn’t have sex with him? Shit, maybe that was it. Maybe he thinks I still love Jason? Well, I do still kinda love Jason..... but he’s in a coma. Who knows when he’ll wake back up anyway?   
“No, you’ve already been through so much with Joe anyway.” I muttered out loud, causing some stares from other students. I poked at the pig skin with my scalpel. “What do you think Mister Piggy?”   
That’s when the pig looked up at me and said, “Of course you love him Harley, don’t be stupid.”   
I nodded and smiled, reaching down to cut open the pig’s stomach. “Yeah, you’re right. I love him. So... there’s no reason he’ll leave me.” I smiled wider at the thought, but then I glanced up when I felt eyes on me. Victor Fries was staring at me oddly from across the room.   
“What are you looking at?” I snapped, causing him to just shrug and turn away. 

I still felt a little upset about the idea of Joe leaving me when it got to lunch. I got my food with a sigh and plopped down at the usual table with Eddie, Johnny and Selina.   
“Hey guys.” I said, playing with my Mac n cheese. 

“OMG Harleen, I heard what happened yesterday with Barbra.” Selina exclaimed right away. “What a bitch. I can’t believe she thinks she can just do that.”

I shrugged. “Water under the bridge.” But I barely knew what I was saying; it definitely wasn’t water under the bridge as I still really wanted to throw her out of the window. 

Selina just frowned. “Did you hear what happened to Pamela?” 

When the mention of Pammy floated through my ears, I almost gagged on my macaroni. “Hear what? What do you mean? Is she okay??”

“Well... I guess she inhaled some bad plant chemicals yesterday—“ 

“Yeah! Yeah I already know about that, when I saw her she said she was fine!” I started to panic, hoping to god Pammy was okay. I watched Selina’s lips as she explained the rest.  
“But she had to go to the hospital. I guess an hour later her skin started having an allergic reaction or something.” Selina shook her head. “I feel so bad. Literally everyone is in the hospital.”

“I’m not in the hospital.” Johnny grinned, obviously not as moved by the situation as I was. 

Selina narrowed her eyes at him, raising her spork to his throat. “Not yet you’re not you little shit.” 

“Riddle me this:” Eddie interjected, “what do you get when you cross a lemon and a cat?” 

She rolled her eyes with a huff and set her spork down. “I dunno, what?” 

“A sourpuss. Leave Johnny alone, we all know he’ll be the next one to go anyway.” Eddie chuckled, but Johnny glared at him and muttered something about nightmares and that he hoped he’d get them. 

“GUYS!” I exclaimed, feeling tears bubble at my eyes. “What about Pammy?! Do none of you care?!”   
What was wrong with them?! Pam was the only sane one here! I wouldn’t know what to do without her. And why am I just finding out about this now anyway??   
“Harley, she’s going to be fine.” Selina reassured, but that didn’t help. I simply huffed and began to stand, but then I felt a hand on my shoulder pushing me back down.   
That’s when everyone at the table froze and stared past my shoulder.   
I angrily whipped around to yell at whoever was trying to get me to sit, but my mouth instantly went dry when I saw it was Joe.   
First thought: the scarf was gone, and second, so were the stitches.   
His scars looked mostly healed, but they were still a tad red from irritation. Yet without the stitches he looked entirely different for some reason. It was almost like you thought the wound would go away completely when the stitches were out— but now they were gone and the scars remained; this time truly apart of his flesh. This was him, now and forever.   
I felt myself gaining a smile towards him, proud that he decided to take off the scarf.   
Joe sat down next to me and took the apple from my tray, biting into it fearlessly as he stared back at everyone else at the table. I was so excited that he was here that I nearly forgot about my concern for Pammy.   
“Everyone, this is Joe.” I announced even though I knew they all knew already.   
They all timidly waved.   
Joe munched on the apple loudly in response, so I whispered to him, “Stop acting scary. These are my friends.”   
When I said that, he rolled his eyes and smirked at me, hooking a hand around my waist to yank me closer.  
Selina blinked her wide eyes in surprise before finally speaking up, “Uh, are you two like... together?” 

I began blushing, taking a moment to remember that no one knew this whole time. They all still thought I was dating Jason. Oh man. There gonna think I’m such a jer—   
“Yup.” Joe replied, taking another bite of apple. “And you’re the one with Wayne aren’t you? How’s that?” The tone in his voice was scrutinizing, mocking.   
Selina narrowed her eyes at that, obviously choosing not to take his shit. “What happened here?” She tapped to her cheek in gesture. “Cut yourself on an ice pop?”   
Joe glared back at her, and for a second I thought he was going to slam her head into the table or something, but then he just started to laugh hysterically.   
Then he turned to Eddie and Johnny, pointing to them individually. “And you must be Nigma, and Crane. Harls talks a lot about you guys.” He paused then said to Johnny, “How’s Scarecrow?”  
His question caused me to nudge him hard in the ribs. That was not something good to ask Johnny at all, and I feared seeing his reaction.   
Johnny was silent for a moment, his eye twitching once, then he sat up in his seat with a small smirk. “He’s fantastic, actually, thanks for asking.” 

Okay, I was not expecting that at all. I thought he’d just cry or leave or flip out.   
Hearing that, Joe grinned and made an OK symbol. “Great to hear. Maybe I’ll get to see him sometime soon?” 

“We’re hoping.” Johnny mumbled, but everyone caught that. I honestly don’t think he was speaking in the royal we.   
I frowned, leaning towards him to ask, “Johnny since when did you start—“ 

But Joe interrupted, “Where’s Gordon, Harls?” 

Suddenly, the blood in my body began to bubble. I turned to him with fire in my eyes. “She’s probably sitting with her friends in the front of the cafe.” 

His green eyes sparkled. Reaching up to run a hand through my hair, he asked, “You want me to say hi to her?” 

I faltered, feeling instantly apprehensive as I saw a few teachers hanging out in the corner of the room. “I dunno if that’s a good idea.”   
But Joe cocked his head to the side, proceeding to trace his fingers through my hair and down my neck. He kept a warm smile, and those eyes were so hypnotic. I sighed, letting my shoulders fall as I said, “Just don’t—“   
I couldn’t even finish my sentence as Joe instantly left the table, taking my tray with him. He strolled to the other end of the cafeteria with the tray in one hand until he reached the table.   
Barbra was sitting with her back facing him as she was chatting with her friends. She was barely giving any attention to her friend’s warning stares as Joe stood behind her and asked, “You Barbra Gordon?” 

“Who’s asking?” She didn’t even turn around, too caught up in applying her own lipstick. 

Joe narrowed his eyes and shifted his weight, silently juggling the tray in his hand. After a moment, he said, “Knock knock.” 

Barbra huffed, setting her lipstick down with frustration, then she began to turn around, “Listen bud—“ 

But that’s when Joe slammed the tray in her face as hard as he could, giving her a face full of Mac n cheese. The tray actually stuck to her face for a moment before slowly slipping off. He grabbed it and shook it over her head to make sure all the food dropped down onto her head, including the creamed spinach. Then he tossed the tray away.   
Everyone was silent. Even the teachers were stunned. As Joe turned to walk away, Barbra began to cry. “What was that?!” She sobbed. 

“That was the joke.” Joe replied, stopping momentarily to turn back to her on his heel. He stalked up to her and leaned down menacingly. “And I don’t think you wanna stick around for the punchline. So I’d suggest leaving Harls alone for the future.” He smirked, trying to hold back a laugh as he saw blood from her nose begin to mix into the cheese, then he turned again and made his way back to us. 

“Harleen?!” She screamed, “This is about Harleen?! You’ll be hearing from my dad!! All of you will!” 

I physically shrunk down into my body hearing her shouts to me. But at the same time I was glad she got it back.  
Joe sat back down with a smile on his face, and I happily hugged him. He let me hold him for three more seconds before shoving me away. “Next time I want you to do it.” He commanded harshly.   
I nodded silently, but I was still so happy to watch him stand up for me. That’s when the teachers appeared by his side, and he quietly stood up to leave with them. “I’ll see ya later.” He muttered. 

“Thanks puddin!” I grinned, squeezing his hand before he pulled away and left.   
My friends simply stared at me in shock but I was just grinning.


	11. Chapter 11

I think the only reason I called him _puddin_ was because I watched him eat two whole pudding cups for breakfast. And it slipped out, but honestly I think I like it. I was blushing to myself as I waited outside of the principle’s office to pick him up.  
“I didn’t expect to see you again for a while.” A voice suddenly appeared to my side and I glanced over to see principal Al Ghoul standing there. He had a raised eyebrow as he stared down at me. “Please don’t tell me your in trouble again Miss Quinzel?” 

“Oh no! I’m just waiting for Joe.” I beamed, reaching up to twist my hair with my finger. 

“That’s good.” He paused and his blue eyes traveled down my body. He smiled slightly and leaned on the wall a bit too close and comfortable. “Didn’t you use to wear glasses?” He gestured to my eyes then added, “I mean, you look good without them.”  
I glanced away to my knees with flushed cheeks. “I switched to contacts the other day.” Was he hitting on me? 

“Well, you have nice eyes Harleen.” He shifted closer. Oh man he definitely was. I had a one month stint with my Sociology teacher freshman year and that was it. I swore I’d never do it again. But before Al Ghoul could boldly place a hand on my shoulder, Joe appeared in the doorway lead by the guidance counselor. I instantly slipped over to his side, sliding an arm around his waist.  
The principal cleared his throat, moving his hands behind his back. “Since when have you two been friends?” 

“Since when have you been such a prick?” Joe shot back, obviously not in a good mood from his talk. “Oh wait, that’s been always.” His last addition made himself crack up.  
Al Ghoul narrowed his eyes, and I swore his fists tightened too. “Hey!” He barked, “You want another detention?” 

Joe just rolled his eyes and strolled out of the room. I followed him but my hand was suddenly caught.  
“I’d be careful around him, Harleen.” The principal warned, “You don’t know him like we do.” 

I raised my eyebrow at that and shook loose his grip on my hand. “I think I’d beg to differ.”  
With that, I ran after Joe and took his hand in mine once I caught up with him. I wasn’t concerned about the warning, but it did make me think about all of Jason’s stories. I glanced down to our tied hands in attempts to see his finger tips. I wonder if they really were blank. 

But right now that wasn’t my top concern. I made him drive me back to the hospital. This time it was to see Pammy.  
I was surprised to have Joe actually come with me though. He kept watch at the doorway while I slowly inched into Pam’s room.  
She had no visitors. And the only thing keeping her company was a Mum in the windowsill. And the first thing I saw was green. Which, I thought was just my eyes tricking me— but when I blinked and rubbed them the green still kept. Her whole body was a light green color, and I knew deep down it wasn’t just the normal ‘sickly green’. 

“Hey Harls.” She whispered, smiling softly at me with her green lips. She looked paralyzed laying there, all hooked up to machines and IVs and the like.  
I immediately had to bat the tears away as I rushed up to her. “Oh Pammy! Is all this because the plant threw up on you?!”  
That actually made her giggle and she rolled her eyes at me. “Plants can’t throw up Harleen. But yeah.... those chemicals I inhaled yesterday are really doing something funky to me.” She frowned, gently reaching a hand up to carcass my cheek. “But I don’t feel ill. I feel good actually. Like even better than I ever did before. I don’t understand why they won’t let me just leave.” 

“Maybe it’s because you’re green.” I commented, half-joking half dead serious. 

She just shrugged. “I’m sure it’ll go away.” Then she turned back to me with a smile, rubbing her thumb against my skin. “It’s nice to see you Harleen.” 

I smiled back. “Just call me Harley.” 

“I thought you didn’t like that?” Pam questioned, furrowing her brows, but when she saw the figure of Joe standing in the doorway she sighed. “Are you here with him?” 

I nodded, my smile growing larger. “Yeah! Puddin come here!” 

_“Puddin?”_ I heard Pam mutter with shock while he huffed and entered the room, choosing to lean against the window. 

He crossed his arms over his chest and asked, “Is that what you’re gonna be calling me now?” He smirked a little but rolled his eyes at the same time.  
“Yeah! Pammy this is my— well.... this is Joe.” I introduced, feeling the blush come back. 

“What’s wrong with his face?” Was the first blatant thing that came from her mouth with disgust.  
I gasped at such a comment with wide eyes then narrowed them. “Nothings wrong with his face! What do you mean?!” I couldn’t help myself get all defensive over his scars knowing how messed up they made him feel initially.  
Joe just waved a hand dismissively. “Harley please. Obviously she’s green with envy.” He snickered to himself but Pam made another disgusted face.

“Uh, no thank you.” She looked at me with disappointed eyes. “Don’t tell me you left Jason for.... that?” 

I didn’t even know how to respond. How come everyone was always judging me all the time?! First of all what did Joe ever do to them?! Nothing that’s what. And they don’t know the whole story. So they shouldn’t judge. I kept my eyes narrowed and I stood up, taking a step away from the bed. “Well, what if I did?” 

“Oh Harley.” She sighed again, placing her hand to her head. “You barely know this guy! Don’t you remember, he’s the new kid! The creep with all the scary rumors! I mean, seriously, look at his face, Harls!” 

“Pamela! He’s standing right there!!” I gestured to his figure with both hands. I couldn’t believe her right now. 

“I don’t care if he’s standing right there, this is my room!” She replied, just as livid as I was. We both glared at each other for what seemed like forever before Joe sighed and began to stroll towards the exit. “Alright I’m outta here.” 

“Aw puddin, please—“ I started but Pam overrode my words, yelling:

“NO, you’re not going anywhere. Come here.” 

Joe visibly cringed at the command, and I could see him think it over before deciding to play her game. He strolled back over, trying to appear unmoved on the outside. But I knew he was flaming pissed beneath those dark eyes.  
“What is it Miss Vegetable?” He mused, leaning against the bed frame. 

“Since when did you start seeing Harley?” Pam asked, beginning her interview. I just slapped a hand to my head in annoyance. I tried grabbing Joe’s shoulder in attempt to make him leave with me but he shoved me off in refusal.  
“Technically ever since bird brain Todd slipped into a coma. But I had her on my sights for a while. We kissed when I did this to myself.” He pretended to do the whole reenactment of sticking a knife in his mouth to cut away. Then he licked his scarred lips and glanced back to me, who was simply standing there as red as a cherry.  
“How romantic.” Pam made another face of disgust. “But why her? What’s so great about Harleen Quinzel? No offense, Harls.”  
I pursed my lips at her with narrowed eyes but stayed silent, waiting for his response. In all honesty I kind enjoyed this; it was like a little confession of his love.  
Joe was silent for a moment, tapping his chin in thought. Then he hummed, “Well. She’s special.” Short and sweet. I was kind of expecting a big explanation from the way he took so long to think about it, but this will have to do. And I was honored by it anyway.  
“Come ‘ere pumpkin.” He smirked, gesturing for me to come around the bed to his side, which I did. He grabbed my waist and hooked me in for a kiss. That’s when I realized that I hadn’t kissed him since the stitches were removed. Everything was smooth and soft now— and I could feel the butterflies swarming in my stomach.  
Suddenly there was an ECK sound.  
“Okay okay, just stop it, I’m going to puke. I get it, you both love each other.” Pamela interjected, keeping a hand over her eyes.  
That caused Joe to smile, and he gave me one last kiss on the cheek.  
Pamela slowly removed her hand from her eyes to peer at us again. “But I’m gonna keep an eye on you.” She jabbed a finger towards Joe.  
He touched his chest like he was flattered by the news. “I’m honored little leprechaun! Just don’t strain yourself. Wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to Harley’s bestest friend.” He smirked deviously before grabbing my hand to pull me to the door. “It’s time to go now honey.”  
I pouted a little but waved to Pammy with my free hand. Instead of waving back she looked pissed, which made me even more sad. Joe hooked an arm around my slumped shoulders as we left the floor.  
“I wish she liked you.” I muttered, keeping my eyes on the shiny tile while we walked.  
He just shrugged and managed to pick pocket a scalpel from a nurse’s tray, slipping the dangerous tool into his jacket. “Can’t charm them all.” 

I sighed, and just as we were nearing the elevator, doctors and nurses began rushing around; chatter grew louder and there was a sense of tension in the air. 

“It’s that boy, Todd!” Was what rang through my ears right then. 

“What?” I murmured aloud, looking this way and that for an answer. I snuck out of Joe’s grip to scurry over to a doctor. He was frantically flipping through his clipboard. 

“Excuse me,” I began, “What’s going on?” 

The doctor looked like he was barely paying attention but he surprisingly responded, “Uhh, someone’s woken from a coma.”  
My eyes went wide at that news. Jason! Yes, it must be Jason!  
I was about to dash in the opposite direction to his room, but my sleeve was caught. Joe stood there with an unamused look on his face.  
“Jason just woke up I think!” I explained, taking his hand to pull him with me, but he wouldn’t budge. “C’mon puddin, let me see ‘em!”  
Joe peeled my hand off of his with a sigh. “Think for a sec, Harley. He must still think you’re his lady.” 

“But I’m not anymore.” I replied, my foot beginning to tap in anxiety. If he was awake, then he was awake, I’m not sure why it felt like time was ticking down. 

“That’s right.” His eyes scanned me up and down before he licked his scarred lips. “Just don’t forget it when he sees you, got that pumpkin?” 

The thought that Joe might be jealous made me all bubbly inside, so I pecked him on the cheek before turning away. “Uh-huh! I’ll meet you at the car then!” I bolted towards Jason’s room with a grin. I was so excited that he was finally awake!! We could talk again, and he could come back to school and—  
When I rounded the corner into his room my smile dropped. There were about three nurses in the room all tending to various things, the machines, his bandages...  
The first thing I noticed was the scars littering his body. Then the bruises. He wasn’t as black and blue as the first time I saw him, but there were still some that lingered. His eyes were like slits, I couldn’t even tell if he was awake.  
But it was confirmed when a nurse asked him if he wanted some water, and he weakly nodded yes.  
Bruce was in the room too, standing by the window. When he saw me, he rushed over and brought me into the hall.  
“Harleen.” He said, solemn, “Give him a second, he’s just waking up.”  
I nodded, already wiping away small tears. “I know, I know.”  
He smiled slightly and crossed his arms. “Selina tells me you’ve been skipping school. Since when have you started that Harleen?” 

“What? No, I told her I was sick.” I shot back, “Plus you can just call me Harley.”  
Why would Selina say that I’ve been skipping? I mean, that’s kinda what happened but I didn’t say that! Maybe she saw through my lie? I narrowed my eyes at that. But right then a small burst of guilt shot up my throat and I glanced up to Bruce cautiously. “What else did she tell you?” 

“A lot.” He simply replied, keeping his eyes on Jason. 

I frowned at that, feeling his silent judgment radiate off of him. When the nurses left, I slowly crept in towards the bed. Bruce took a seat in the guest chair in the corner of the room, obviously not in a rush to say hi to his friend.  
Once I got into Jason’s line of sight, his eyes widened when he saw me. Then a smile began to twitch onto his lips.  
Tears immediately found their way to my eyes, and I had to glance away for a moment. How was I supposed to look at him? How was I supposed to say that I’m in love with another man now? Maybe I didn’t need to, maybe I could just pretend like I was his for a few hours to keep him happy, like nothing ever changed.  
Suddenly I could feel his warm fingers brush my skin as he placed his hand on mine, which made me tremble even more.  
I couldn’t bear to set my eyes on his. I kept my free hand over my face as I sobbed. “Jason... oh, Jason... I....” I couldn’t even spit out a coherent sentence.  
His grip tightened on my hand but I pulled away. I had to leave the room, I didn’t realize how hard this would be—  
But as I turned to leave, he said something, something that made me freeze in my spot.  
“What?” I asked softly. 

“J-Joe...” he said again, weakly, but it confirmed what I thought I heard. I slowly turned towards him, bringing my hand down from my face.  
Jason had tears in his own eyes, but his brow was furrowed and his lips were pulled into an angry frown. “It was him. It was him....he.....” Jason glanced over to Bruce as his lip quivered, then back to me, _“He... did this.... to me. He did this to me!”_


	12. Chapter 12

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Jason was crying while Bruce tried to console him, but I stood there frozen as his words repeated through my brain. _Joe... he did this to me!_ No. No no no. No. That can’t be right. It can’t be. Joe would never— who am I kidding, yes he probably would! But he just couldn’t have done this to Jason.  
Suddenly Jason pushed Bruce away harshly. “I’ll fucking kill him. I’ll kill him for putting me in a fucking coma!! That son of a bitch!”  
I cringed at every word spoken, placing my hands to my face to try to shut him out. Any second and I felt like I was going to have a melt down. 

“Let go of me Bruce! Let go! I’m gonna kill him!!” 

That’s when I nearly screamed, “How do you know?!” I glared at him with a scowl from the foot of the bed. He stopped suddenly, and the both of them stared silently.  
“How do you know it was Joe?!” I elaborated, wiping my eyes.  
Jason was quiet for a moment, then pushed Bruce away again. He began glaring at me, his eyes narrowing. “It was him, Harleen. It was the day Harvey got acid in his face. After I spoke to you in the classroom..... I stepped out because I got a call from Bruce. I didn’t notice at first, but Joe was in the hallway too. He was waiting for me. I ended up telling him to fuck off, but that’s when he attacked me. I was knocked unconscious. I.... I remember now.... I woke up in some place I’ve never been before. It was dark, but everything was red and there were stripes....”

“A circus tent.” Bruce muttered to help out. 

Jason nodded. “Yeah it could have been. But I was tied down to a chair. And the next thing I knew he was there, _smiling._ God, that fucking smile. He had a crowbar in his hand and.....” he visibly shuttered, placing a hand to his head as if reliving the painful memory. More tears streamed down his cheeks and he turned to Bruce, who reached out to place a kind hand on his shoulder.  
“You... you don’t believe me, Harleen?” Jason asked, his voice turning dark. 

I didn’t know what to say. My mouth had hung open the entire story in shock.  
I simply turned around and headed to the door. I don’t even remember speaking but the words tumbled out of my lips to him, “I’m...so sorry...”  
Then I ran, I ran and ran until I reached the parking lot.  
Joe stood there, leaning against the Camaro with a cigarette. All he said was, “About time.” when he saw me, but I stomped right up to him and without knowing what I was doing I slugged him right in the face.  
My fist throbbed in pain, but I was so numb I wasn’t thinking about it. He started to hoot in laughter as he clung to his face, probably coddling his scars that were now bleeding. His nose was too.  
“I take it you believed everything he said.” He chuckled, and that’s when I punched him again in the same spot. Joe stumbled around the hood of the car and doubled over in pain as he clasped his face, but the laughter just got louder. 

“You son of a bitch,” I seethed, “just stop laughing!” 

But that’s when he moved back over towards me, grabbing my wrists in his hands and slamming me against the side of the car. I hit my head pretty good on the metal frame and I began to hear a high pitched ring in my ears.  
“Shh shhh shh shh.” He purred, tightening his grip. “Calm down pumpkin, you’re making a scene.” 

“Why?!” I yelled, struggling against him. “Why’d you do it?!” 

At that, he smiled and pressed closer to kiss the side of my neck, trailing up to my jaw.  
I hated him so much right now, I hated him! I squirmed, but he continued to just kiss me and soon I began to sob in frustration. “Why?” 

“You know why.” he kissed my jaw then pulled away for a smirk and slowly released one of my hands so he could slip his around the crook of my neck.  
I hit him on the shoulder once but gave up after that as he was too strong. Plus I was in full crying mode now, saying things I never thought I would say, like “I hate you!” and “You’re a monster!” 

But he just laughed at me, stroking my cheek with his thumb. “That makes the two of us. Now, now listen—“ He prodded the corner of his mouth with his tongue, wetting the bumpy scar tissue. “Harls, it’s called _teaching someone a lesson._ Todd already had this coming for a long time now, but I— I just sped it up.” He giggled manically. “He was trying to keep you from me. Obviously I couldn’t just let that happen; I did it for you! Wanna know why?” Joe cocked his head to the side, expecting me to answer, but when I would look at him he forced my jaw towards him. “Wanna know why? _Because you are a part of me._ ”  
He pressed closer again and locked his lips into mine, attempting to kiss me passionately. For a moment, I could feel my anger slipping away into the kiss. He knew all the right moves and all the right words to get me under his spell— but the image of Jason’s mutilated body flashed through my mind and that’s when I swung my knee into his crotch.  
Joe burst into painful cries of laughter, stumbling away from me. I was able to snag his car keys too, so I threw myself into his car and zoomed away, leaving him there without regret. 

Nope. I spoke too soon the regret was there. The regret was there when I rounded the first corner out of the hospital and I screamed, “DAMMIT!!” towards the steering wheel. But I just kept driving, going about twenty over the speed limit in furious rage.  
My knuckles were white from holding the wheel too tight and my cheeks were wet with tears. So many emotions were exploding within me all at once: regret, betrayal, guilt, rage, heartache.  
I didn’t even know where I was driving, but my foot slammed on the brake when I saw the pointy tips of a red circus tent in the distance. I narrowed my eyes and zoomed into the lot of the park. I sat in the car silently before making my way into the tent. It was still daytime, so there wasn’t a show going on. It was pretty much deserted as I stepped inside. I went all the way to the center of the ring to plop down on the dusty floor.  
The night Joe and I came here danced through my thoughts; he was so charming... the rose, us dancing...  
I suppose that was our first date, even though I was with Jason. I shouldn’t have gone, I should have been smarter. But I’ve never been smart, have I? He had the warning signs from the very beginning, even with the damned frog he was cutting up in class that first day. Bipolar, psychotic, manipulative. I knew it all deep down, but I never did anything. I went along with it— and what’s scaring me is the fact that in this period of time spent with him.... I’ve become those things too. I’ve killed, murdered. I’ve laughed at the blood. I’ve come to adore a man with carved smile.  
Sure, maybe I treated him like a psychology project in the beginning, but I stopped trying to analyze him for the rest of it— I was never out to cure him. I wanted to see what was deeper in his brain, and damnit Harley you sure got it.  
Suddenly, laughter echoed through the tent.  
“UGH! Leave me alone!!” I shrieked, doubling over with my hands to my ears, and the laughter stopped. But after a second it began again. It was high pitched and animalistic.  
I slowly glanced up to try to see where it was coming from. It was hard to see, but there was a cage in the corner of the ring and I swore I saw something moving.  
With shaky knees, I slowly stood and wandered over. The laughter grew louder, and bending down, I realized that it was coming from the beast trapped inside. It was a laughing hyena.  
He was wearing a collar that read “Bruce.” Seeing that actually made me giggle, and I wiped my tears away. “Bruce? Like Bruce Wayne?”  
I placed my hand on the bar without thinking, but he wasn’t ferocious in any way. He sniffed it, then took a big slobbery lick. I giggled even more. “You’re not scary. You’re just a big ham.”  
I boldly sat down next to him, assuming he might enjoy the company. My tummy had a pit in it, mostly fear and love bubbled around in there. I wanted to throw up.  
“What do you think, Brucey? What should I do?” 

The hyena simply laughed. 

I sighed, setting my head against the cage. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” 

-

I went back to the apartment later that night. To my surprise, it was empty. But maybe that was a good thing for the time being. I stripped out of my clothes and climbed into bed, letting my blonde hair down. I didn’t even care to wash my face, as my mascara was probably streaked all down my cheeks from my tears.  
My head throbbed; most likely from hitting it against the car earlier, but I was exhausted.  
I bundled myself up in all of the blankets and rested my sore head on one of the pillows. It was only five o clock or so but I must have dozed off.... 

I woke up to a loud slam. The room was pitch black, but it was raining out now and the occasional lightning flash would light up the room.  
I heard heavy footsteps down the hall, then the light from the bathroom turned on. I heard the water turn on for a moment too. I didn’t move from my position, but I knew it was Joe.  
The water turned off, and then the bedroom door creaked open. His doc martens trudged across the floor towards the closet. His shoes came off first, then the shuffling sound of the rest of his clothes came next.  
He was moving again, and soon the mattress sprang up and down from his weight as he sat down on the foot of the bed. He sat like that for what seemed like ages, not making a sound. I almost thought he might have fallen asleep.  
I opened my eyes slightly, and the flash of the lightning allowed me to see his hunched over figure.  
His hands hung in his lap— bruised and red. His knuckles were bloody; or at least, still bleeding from whatever crime he must have committed.  
The next thing I knew, I was sitting up, getting on my knees to crawl to him. I slid my arms around him, and at first contact he twitched. 

“You came back?” He croaked. Another lighting flash and I could see the twinkle of one tear on his cheek. 

Most girls would have left by now. Or if not, slugged him again in the face. Or called him pathetic. But that one tear spoke a thousand words to me.  
“Of course.” I replied in his ear and moved my hands to his shoulders, pulling him to face me. Then I ran a hand down his chest, while setting the other on his cheek. “You’re a part of me, too.”  
Joe had his gaze set on the floor, but when I said that he slowly looked up at me, reaching forward to grab my shirt. He roughly pulled me forward to set his lips against mine, and his hands wandered around my hips. I was crazy, but I loved him. And he was the only one I had left.  
Joe suddenly shoved me flat onto the bed, yanking my t-shirt over my head. Then he took of his off as well before leaning down to kiss me again. I began to blush, feeling utterly exposed now, and reached up to cover myself but he pried my hands away. “Harley...” he growled under his breath and turned to kiss down my chest, starting at my collar bone then down, down.  
I was probably as red as a fire truck, especially when he attempted to peel my shorts off, but I covered my face with my eyes squeezed shut.  
He stopped when he saw me and began to chuckle, crawling back up to pull my hand away. “Don’t be chicken.” 

“I’m not chicken!” I whined, punching him in the shoulder quite hard. “I just... I....” I glanced away, feeling the tears come back. “I think I love you.” 

He grinned at hearing that, choosing to lean down to kiss my cheek softly and whispered, “I know.”  
His hand slid under my chin to turn my face back towards his, and he commanded me to look at him while his other hand reached for my shorts again. I felt my cheeks burning up again, but I did as he asked. His eyes held that same fire as they did on the rooftop of Arkham long ago; and they made me feel at home. 

-

I slept until one o clock the next day. And the only reason I woke up was because a cop car went barreling down our street with its sirens on. I nearly had a heart attack as I jumped out of bed. To make things worse I briefly forgot what day it was and I had another heart attack glancing at the clock thinking it was another school day. Luckily it was Saturday. I sighed in relief when it dawned on me.  
Right then a small shiver went down my spine and that’s when I noticed that I was buck naked— and standing right in front of my open window.  
With a shriek I dropped to the floor and crawled over to the closet, choosing to shut myself into the confined space to get changed. 

Once I was all dressed, I hobbled into the kitchen to grab breakfast. Or lunch? I dunno, just something cause I was starving. I found some donuts on the counter so I grabbed two, and as I munched on them I noticed someone moving around in the living room.  
Of course I thought it was Joe, but when I took a second glance the man had green hair. My eyes widened, and I stuck one of the donuts in my mouth while my free hand reached for a knife in the silverware drawer. I tip toed into the living room and crept behind the couch, where the figure was sitting.  
I waited a nervous beat, then stuck the knife to his throat. But I forgot the donut was still in my mouth because I said, “Whmm armmm yomm?” 

The donut was plucked out of my mouth than none other than Joe, who sat there with a smile at me. “What was that, sweetheart?” He asked as calm as a cucumber even though he had a knife to his throat. 

My eyes widened again, removing the knife to poke my fingers through his freshly dyed hair. “I thought you were another person!” 

“So you were going to just slit my throat?” He grinned, and when I nodded he gave a hoot of laughter. “My, my, what a monster you’ve become.” 

“Explain to me why your hair is green.” I commanded, lazily handing him the knife so he could play with it. I leaned on the side of the couch to finish eating my other donut. 

He shrugged. “I don’t know, I felt like I needed a change. You saw me steal the dye the other day.” 

“Yeah well. Weren’t your new scars ‘change’ enough?” 

Joe sat up and pointed the knife at me with a raised eyebrow. “Why? You don’t like it?” 

I shook my head and tumbled onto the couch so I could sit next to him. “I don’t care what you do, I’ll always think you’re the most handsomest. I was just curious.” 

“Curiosity killed the cat, my little harlequin.” He gently drifted the tip of the knife across my lips into a shape of a smile. But I rolled my eyes.  
“You sound like Eddie.” 

“Do not.”

“Do too.” I muttered back with a smirk, which made him pin me down to the couch. He grabbed my neck with one hand while the other poked the tip of the knife to my chest. 

_“Do not.”_ He gave me a threatening look and pressed the knife harder into my flesh. I tried not to flinch as I glared back at him, attempting to keep my dignity the best I could despite the pain he was inflicting. Part of me felt like sneering back at him with something feisty— but I had a feeling he wouldn’t like that, and soon the knife might actually plunge into me. I knew I shouldn’t test him like that, but I wanted to know what he would do. Would he hurt me like that? He was mostly all talk so far— the only hurting he would do would be too himself or to others. Of course, there was the other day when I yelled at him about Jason. He didn’t seem to mind my head smacking against the car door at all. So the psychologist in me was tempted to push him. His green eyes sparkled at me with bloodlust, just begging me to say one more word in defiance. And of course this was silly, because the only thing I accused him of was being like Eddie Nigma. But he didn’t seem to like being compared to anyone, as I remembered he also looked pissed when I said he was like Johnny Crane too that time we were on the top of Arkham. He was already so unique in his own way, I didn’t get why it bothered so much when I said those things. And besides, I was more often than not simply teasing him.  
I narrowed my eyes, and opened my mouth to throw something snappy at him, but my cell phone began to ring. It probably just saved me, but I huffed, taking his hand in mine to remove the knife, which to my surprise he allowed. I crawled back over the couch again, but Joe snagged my foot last minute which sent me tumbling to the ground. My elbows and chin scrapped on the carpet in heat burn causing me to groan in pain. He broke out in a high-pitched laugh, doubling over in humor.  
“Not funny.” I spit back, climbing to my feet so I could rush over to the phone which sat on the kitchen table. He was still giggling in the background when I answered, shocked to see that it was Bruce Wayne calling me. He probably wanted to talk about what happened yesterday. My eyes slid close and I caught my lip between my teeth as I faltered to hold the phone to my ear; I honestly didn’t want to discuss the whole ordeal with Jason right now. I still felt raw about the whole thing….even more now because I had officially slept with Joe even after he confessed he kidnapped and bludgeoned Jason into a coma out of pure jealousy for me. My cheeks burnt in blush as I thought of that. My stomach swirled, but with butterflies. Oh god. I really was a monster, wasn’t I?  
I placed a hand to my hot face and sighed, finally allowing myself to answer the call. “Hey Bruce.”

 _“Harley,”_ He began, his tone was stone cold. I was surprised he actually called me by the nickname. _“Don’t say anything. But I want to meet with you tonight, to talk. Ten PM, the football field. It’s important. Don’t tell him where you’re going. Just say yes if you understand.”_  
My eyebrows furrowed at his seriousness. Was that urgency I also heard beneath his tone? It made me wonder what was going on. Could this still be about Jason? And why did he not want me to tell Joe? “But, why?” I asked.  
_“Just say yes.”_  
A frown tugged at my lips, and I glanced back into the living room, but I couldn’t see the top of his green head anymore over the couch. I just glanced at my shoes and said the three letter word. He hung up right as I said it. What the hell was that all about?  
“Who was that?” The curious hum of Joe sounded from behind me, and I spun around to see him standing there a few feet away with the knife perched on his bottom lip. He raised an eyebrow at me, demanding me to answer.  
Uh, could I still say that Bruce called or was that a no no too? I was panicking as I tried to figure out what to say, but when he clenched his jaw and those green eyes darkened to a black, I squeaked out: “Salesperson.” Damn it. Why did I lie? Why? He’d see right through it. Joe was silent for a moment, his eyes not leaving mine, before suddenly swinging his knife into the counter. He did it so hard that the blade stood upright— it made me jump. He sighed, visibly annoyed as he rolled his eyes. “DON’T lie to me.” He pronounced _don’t_ quite loudly, which made me jump again. He couldn’t help but to smirk at my fidgets.  
“I…I’m serious puddin, it was a salesperson…” I replied, the words barely leaving my lips.  
Suddenly his hand was clasped tightly against my throat and he shoved me back onto the kitchen table quite harshly, knocking the breath right out of me. My eyes went wide as his grip squeezed my airway. I shot my hands up to claw at his, but it was useless, he was too strong. Joe’s eyes were as black as death as he glared down into my soul, his lips weren’t smiling but his scars were. And his breathing grew heavy, leaning forward to press his body against mine so I could feel it against my cheek. “I didn’t fuck you for you to lie to me.” His words were like venom, and I instantly felt ashamed. But I also knew I was loosing air and my vision grew blurry; my prying fingers slowed down reaching for his hand. Tears came to my blue eyes and watered down, leaking down my neck and throat where I knew would be bruises.  
When he saw my tears, that when the real smile appeared on his face. His hand expanded, allowing my throat to open again and I was able to suck in a new breath. “Is that what you wanted?” Joe asked, tipping his head up and his tongue darted over his lip.  
Despite the fuzziness swimming in my brain, I knew what he meant. His comment was to instill fear in me, to make me realize that pain was what I’d get if I didn’t act nice. It was like he could read my thoughts. Here I was crying over him, and just a few moments ago I was wanting to actually push him to this level. I could feel my cheeks heating up and my fists clenching. The thought of my father pasted through my head. No— I didn’t want to compare him to Joe. No. I loved Joe— _I loved him._ I just couldn’t stand the thought that…  
“UGH!” I screamed, slamming my fist down on the table. Then I lunged at Joe, wrapping my hand around his throat this time. “If that’s how it is, then shouldn’t I do it to you, huh, baby?” I stared at him with the wide eyes of a lunatic, my hand tightening. “You lied to me about your parents. I know you did. I just never wanted to believe it!” I had the suspicion that they weren’t really his for a long time, and I tried to stuff it away when he threatened to choke me that one day about the matter, but even after we killed them it still didn’t sit right with me. And now, the way his eyes flickered under my grasp for a split second confirmed it. I was crazy but I was still smart. So I grinned at him mockingly. His eyes narrowed at me in return, and I could hear a low growl before he easily peeled my hand from his throat.  
Then my cheeked burned with the sting of his hand. I stumbled backwards, but he caught me by hooking an arm around my waist to yank me forward again. He growled at me, but instead of strangling me or shoving me to the floor he locked his lips against mine and kissed me with a hungry passion. I could feel the butterflies stir up in my stomach even though my brain was shouting at me to stop it. This was so wrong. But according to my heart this was just what I loved, craved. And something about this kiss was even more electrifying than anything he gave me last night. Was it because of the violence? Did he like my retaliation? Did it turn him on? A smirk slipped onto my face as I thought about that theory, and we continued to stand in the center of the kitchen in each other’s arms like any normal romantic couple would. Except I could feel the bruises on my throat and the fresh green dye of his hair began to stain my hands as I dragged them through the tangled mop. What high school sweethearts.


	13. Chapter 13

The lights flickered on and off each bump the subway snagged as it zoomed through the tunnels under Gotham. I sat in the corner, careful to stay away from the creeps that hunted lone girls like myself while I waited for my stop near downtown. Joe had taken the car when he left so this was my only other option to get to school from the Narrows. My phone was my only company, and I scrolled through the endless feed of Instagram— distinctly noticing Barbra Gordon’s post about nominating her for Scream Queen during the Halloween dance. I rolled my eyes at that, how pathetic. She just wanted another plastic crown to add to her collection that was collecting dust on the shelf. But upon closer examination, I caught a glimpse of a slight discoloration on the bridge of her nose, and I wondered if that was a poorly concealed bruise from the recent tray-to-the-face revenge trip. God, I hoped so. I hoped Joe bruised her up good. Too bad he didn’t break her nose. But who knew? Was she that rich to get a nose job in the past day? She knew Thomas Elliot’s parents, and they did some good plastic surgery. Almost scary good if you’d ask me.   
Right then there was a ding, and the doors flew open on the subway car, this was my stop.   
The walk to the football field was brief, and I chose to wait by the bleachers. A strange chill wafted through the air and I found myself smirking at the sound of distant police sirens; was that Joe? I wondered what he was up to. But whatever it was, I hoped it took him long enough to come home after my little talk with Brucey. I didn’t want my neck to get wrangled twice in the same day. I still didn’t quite understand his violent mood swings, so who knew what would set him off?   
Right then, my phone buzzed, reading: _Sory Harl, too drunk. Can’t meat you._ From Bruce.  
“DAMMIT!” I screamed, almost chucking the device to the ground. What an asshole, does he know the drama this whole thing caused today?? What was wrong with him, that prick?! He couldn’t take one night off being such a party boy? As my blood boiled, I tried to rub my temples to calm myself down. But to make things worse, my phone buzzed again— this time a picture. It was a selfie of Bruce doing a shrug while Selina hung over his shoulders all flirtatiously. Like that was supposed to make me feel any better. I screamed again, actually tossing my phone across the field in complete fury. What a gentleman. Leaving an _innocent_ girl like me all alone in the depths of Gotham at night! I huffed, stopping deeper into the field to find my phone, which I was regretting I threw.   
The police sirens began again, and this time grew closer and louder until they were zooming down the adjacent road by. I took a moment to watch them pass. There were at least four cars. Joe, you better not be in one of them I swear. A sigh escaped my lips once more as I bent down to collect my phone but it was gone. My eyebrows furrowed to see a black-gloved hand holding the phone out to me. I jumped back in shock to reveal a dark figure in front of me. He wore all black, black mask, black cape, and was decked out with protective armor. Holy shit it was the Batman guy.   
He glared at me with dark eyes under that mask— the only skin showing was that of his mouth, his lips in a flat serious line. He kept the phone extended towards me, but it took me a moment to finally snatch it away. He was much more intimidating than on TV.   
“You’re Harleen Quinzel.” Was what he said to me, not so much like a question but a statement. His voice was very deep and distorted. I found myself nodding in response, but my feet began to slowly back up one step at a time. He followed me, asking, “You’re Joe Napier’s girlfriend correct?”  
My eyes blinked twice. _“Napier?”_ That sounded weird. I almost started laughing. But when he began speaking again, I instantly swallowed any humor I had running through my brain.   
“Or should I say _John Doe.”_ The Batman smirked when he saw me freeze in my spot after hearing that. “He came up with _Joe_ on his own. But Napier was the name of his parole officer, so he took that.”  
How did he know who I was? And how did he know all this information about Joe? It…it reminded me about what Jason told me. The whole John Doe thing and Arkham Asylum. Was it all true? When I asked him what he meant by those things, he simply smirked at me even more.   
“He didn’t tell you? Of course he didn’t, it wouldn’t have been part of his plan.” Batman paused, his smirk dropping to become serious once more. “He grew up in Arkham Asylum. He appeared out of nowhere, as if his parents dropped him off at the doorstep. But instead of shipping him off to Foster Care, they noticed he had some psychological problems and kept him. He ended up becoming manic and murderous— on his eleventh birthday he cut his nurse’s face off with a sharpened toothbrush. When he was eighteen, he faked a whole year of good behavior; and when they released him into the public he blew up the high school.”  
Oh my god, that was him?! My head throbbed with all of this news. “Why are you telling me all this?”  
“Because you’re on dangerous ground Miss Quinzel.” His voice turned deadly, commanding. He stepped closer, his armor sounding heavy. “The only reason they sent him to the school again was to let him get a proper education. He had been showing good signs at the Asylum, so they let him go. But that was a mistake. He is too dangerous to be let loose on this city. And I can only imagine what he has manipulated you to do so far.”  
For a moment, as I was listening to his explanation, I was secretly glad the people at Arkham were stupid enough to let him free— and I sent a small thank you to the corrupt politicians of Gotham who probably aided that as well— but then that last sentence poured into my mind. My eyes narrowed to slits, and I fought all my power to not swing a fist at him. But that probably wouldn’t be too bright of an idea. “Manipulated?! Excuse me, Mister Batman, but he did no such thing! Sure, he’s very persuasive and violent and a bit charismatic, but everything I did was on my terms!”  
“What did you do?” His question shot through me like a bullet through butter. I gulped in response, then crossed my arms with a flip of my hair. 

“Nothing. It doesn’t matter now anyway.”

“Harleen, what did you do?” His tone dropped even lower, practically growling at me. His hands were fists. “What did _he make_ you do?”

I scowled, huffing again in annoyance. What a prick. I wasn’t going to allow him to intimidate me. Even though he was much taller and buffer and looming over my head with an anger that I could feel radiating off of him. “He didn’t make me do anything. It was all out of love.”   
That’s when I could feel the anger pull away. And I noticed that my eyes had been closed shut when I slowly pried them open again to see Batman stepping away. His eyes were wide, almost as if in shock. “Love? You don’t mean…..you’re not…..”  
His retreat made me grow a prideful smirk. _“We’re in love.”_   
The Batman stared at the ground in silence before shaking his head. “No. A person like that isn’t capable of love.”   
With that my scowl replaced my smirk again. “Wrong-o Mister Bat-o! You don’t know my Puddin like I do.” How dare he try to assume things about us. He knew nothing about Joe. He has all his facts about the past, but he knew nothing about the present. And he was just here to torture me. “Now why don’t you leave me alone you freak!”

“Harleen, listen to me.” He growled, darting forward to snatch my retreating arm. His grip was powerful, and I was held in place. “He nearly murdered your ex-boyfriend Jason Todd just to romance you. He needed Todd out of the way in order to make you his pawn. Don’t you see? That’s insanity, not love.” 

I don’t know why, but I had tears in my eyes now, streaming down my cheeks. He wasn’t right to do this to me. He didn’t know Joe like I did. “You’re wrong!” I sobbed, squirming against his grasp. “You’re wrong…”

“Please, I’m trying to help you before it’s too late.” He replied, losing his grip when he noticed he was being too harsh. He sounded sympathetic. But I hated it. 

“He’s got problems, I know. But don’t we all?” I sniffled, placing the palm of my hand to my watery eye. “He’s the only one I’ve got. Please, just leave me alone.” 

There was silence for a moment, then the pressure on my arm released, and I glanced up to see the field empty. He just vanished out of thin air, like a ghost. How was that even possible? I coddled my sore arm and sniffled some more before turning to make my way back to the train. What a wasted night. And now I couldn’t help crying my heart out. Why did everyone need to have such a bad rep towards Joe? He had a soul still. He had a heart. I was the only one who had the keys to those things didn’t I? So no one would understand. No one would understand why I would stay with a scarred faced criminal like him. But I just needed to accept that. And if I needed to protect him from the Batman now, then so be it. 

It was pouring rain when I got back to the house, and there were no taxis around to drive me into the narrows from the station. So the walk was horrific. Luckily because of the rain the goons were cowering away, so I wasn’t bothered, but I was soaking wet. I was relieved to see that I arrived before he did when the car wasn’t in the driveway, but at the same time, a shot of worry pierced through me as I wondered where he was. I trudged into the house with my shoes slopping and squishing on the hardwood. I collapsed in bed with a great sigh before sitting up at the edge. I kicked off my shoes and squeezed out the access rainwater from my left pigtail onto the floor. I could barely move, feeling so drained from today. I thought about Joe; his scars, his smell of cigarettes and cheap cologne, his hand around my neck….. _John Doe._ Was that the real him? An Arkham baby kept in isolation until now? My heart ached at that thought. No wonder he was so messed up. No wonder he faked having parents and backstories. I must be the only girl he’s ever had, or at least the only one he’s ever gotten close to. That’s why he needed me so badly. He craved social interaction. And maybe he needed a little love in his cold, harsh life. I slowly reached up and released the water from my right pigtail. I would have never thought my years of high school would lead to this. I was nowhere close to getting honor roll now, and I barely thought about my classwork anymore. It just wasn’t as important now.   
I exhaled deeply, wiping my eyes again to let the mascara streak across my cheeks. My figure was lit by the headlights of the Camaro from the open front door down the hall, and I lifted my tired eyes to see Joe climb the steps after a moment to enter the house.   
He tossed the clown mask onto the table and hung his coat up on the hook, then his silhouetted figure approached me towards the bedroom. I could barely look up to him anymore as he stood in front of me, probably with a raised eyebrow.   
Before he could question me and my soaked physique, I whispered, “Do you love me?”   
There was no movement, like he was mulling over what I just asked. Then I felt a hand grab my pigtail; in his typical fashion, he made me tip my gaze up towards his, and as I looked at him, he bent down to place his lips against mine, nice and slow. I kissed him back passionately, trying to show him how much this meant to me, but he began to move back, lifting his lips from mine just barely out of reach like a tease. His other hand lightly traced up my arm towards my neck where his fingertips hovered. I felt myself being stunned by such gentleness compared to earlier, and my stomach was a swarm of butterflies. The rainwater didn’t even bother me anymore, as I was sure my skin burnt it all off. I craned my neck forward in an attempt to reconnect our kiss, but he moved back further, always keeping an extra inch from me. The fingers that were at my neck trailed slowly, painfully slow, down my collar bone, then dipping towards my chest, leaving a trail of fire. My cheeks grew pink, and I felt like I had a fever. He bent back down as if to finally kiss me, but as I reached up to touch him with my own hands, he pulled away, fully this time. A whimper escaped my lips, and I wasn’t sure if that made him smirk in the darkness, but he finally said, “Go to bed, Harley.”   
Joe turned around to enter the bathroom with a slam of the door behind him, leaving me there, flustered. 

-

I couldn’t help but to stare at the black and blue welts on my neck. My fingertips ran over them lightly. It reminded me of my father, which made my stomach upset just at the mere thought. But yet, just as it passed through my mind, it went away as I forced myself to remember whose it really was. I wouldn’t want the marks of anyone else’s hand.   
I just hoped it wouldn’t be constant. And like on cue, there he was, standing in the doorway of the bedroom.  
“Get dressed. I wanna take you somewhere.” Joe commanded, but when I didn’t move right away, he gestured with his hand to get going. “Like today.”   
I rolled my eyes at him, trudging over to the closet to change. He made me blush as he chose to violate my privacy to watch me strip down, but I wasn’t going to object to him. Actually, the thing that was constantly on my mind since I woke up was the talk I had with Batman. It bothered me. It bothered me to know that someone was on Joe’s trail; and that meant he would pop back up on our radar again. I wasn’t sure if I should tell Joe about my encounter or not.   
With a sigh, I slipped on a white pleated skirt and a red sweater. Then I threw my hair into a ponytail with a red bow. I quickly did my makeup, but I didn’t go crazy because I wasn’t sure how fast Joe wanted to be out. He was already waiting by the door when I left the room, and soon we were riding the subway from the Narrows. I was surprised that he didn’t take the car for once. And, he officially left the scarf at home today. Which meant stares from everyone. It seemed to be pissing me off more than him, but when I was about to tell off this one woman with her big ass judgmental eyes, Joe placed a hand firmly on my thigh to keep me seated.   
“Save that anger.” He muttered into my ear, his voice rumbly. So, I tried to compose myself during the rest of the ride, but I couldn’t help but flip the woman off when she left. We got off two stops later, and to my surprise, Joe brought me to a little coffee shop near downtown. I almost felt like questioning him as he dragged me into the little establishment. I thought he might take me to the circus again, or to Arkham; for what reasons, I didn’t know. But a coffee shop? Didn’t seem that hardcore for him. He picked a table near the windows, cautiously glancing around himself as if he were looking for security cameras, and pulled out my chair for me before plopping down in his own seat. His fingers jittered on the table, and I raised an eyebrow at him. 

“Are ya sure you want coffee?” I commented, glancing down to those tapping fingers. He noticed my skeptical expression and rolled his eyes. He turned to look out the window, silently contemplating something while I watched him. The flickering reflection of cars passing by was cast onto his green eyes.

“Harley,” He finally stirred, keeping his body twisted away from me towards the window, but he lifted a finger and dragged it around the top of the table. “Last night you asked me if I loved you. Where did that come from?” 

His question made my heart implode on itself. What could I say? Maybe Batman had put a little, minuscule smidge of doubt in my mind about Joe and his true intentions. It was a crazy day and maybe I just wanted reassurance. But the longer I took to reply to his question, he raised an eyebrow— his eyes locked on me now. A shrug reached my shoulders, and I meekly pushed a strand of my hair away. “I just felt like I should ask.”  
Joe smirked at that and raised his finger at me. “Let me re-phrase that; why were you _wet?”_  
Okay, it was that question that made me have a mini heart attack. For a split second I had to actually think about what he meant, but then I realized he was referring to me being soaked from meeting with Batman. I seriously need to get my head out of the gutter. Regardless I was still blushing, and I contemplated if I should tell him what happened. “I was going to meet Bruce Wayne.” I began honestly. “That’s what I didn’t tell you about yesterday, when he called me on the phone. But he told me not to tell you.” A long sigh escaped my lips. What was the point of yesterday if I was just going to submissively spill it all to Joe right now? “I went out to meet him after you left, but like the dick he is, he was too drunk to show up. I was going to go home obviously, but that’s when he showed up. The Batman.” I paused to see how Joe would react, but he had his eyes back towards the window again. There was nothing on his face. “He warned me of you. He told me that you didn’t really love me.” I felt those pesky tears come to my eyes right then; just saying that out loud bothered me to the core.   
Joe’s smile grew, and I could hear a soft chuckle. “You never answered my question.”

“It was raining.” Long story short, I could’ve just said that. I placed a hand to my head in annoyance. 

He nodded calmly, then flagged down a waitress, saying, “Milkshake, please. Ah, strawberry.” He grinned at her, especially since she initially couldn’t hide her grimace at seeing his scars. When she left with the order, he turned his attention back to me. “Why didn’t you think this was important to tell me?” A deadly tone was laced into his voice.   
I shrugged again. “I dunno. I wanted to trust that what he was saying wasn’t true. Besides, I think he’s just a weirdo wannabe superhero. I think he’ll fizzle out in another month.”

“But how was he really?” Joe asked, leaning forward over the table. 

“I guess he was a little scary. He puts together a good show, I’ll tell ya. Who knew a man dressed like a bat would be intimidating?” I replied, shaking my head at the sheer insanity of it all. But Joe enjoyed that statement, giving himself a good laugh. When he died down, he scooted closer to me with excitement. 

“Don’t you see, this is exactly what we need! Gotham needs a man in a bat suit. It paves a way for me— for us— to introduce a little anarchy into the system. Remember what we talked about, Harley. The Batman…he’s our disruption.” His eyes sparkled with childish giddy, it was like he was a mad scientist coming up with a horrific new experiment. I glanced around the relatively packed cafe to make sure no one was listening to us. “But he’s a vigilante.” I whispered, feeling a little lost.

Joe nodded, throwing his hands up in the air. “Exactly! He’s not the law. He’s not a White Knight. He’s not safe. And neither are people like us.” He paused when he could tell I still wasn’t completely understanding what his point was, so he ran a hand through his hair in anticipation before jabbing a finger at the table. “There is no better time to be alive. You know how fucked everyone is. Everyone in Gotham, everyone at that god damned school. And you, you haven’t been treated with the right respect you need there. You have Gordon’s slut of a daughter and that pedophile principal— I’ve seen him making eyes at you.”

“You have?” I croaked, feeling embarrassed. But Joe nodded again, this time taking my hands. 

“It fucking pisses me off. But you couldn’t talk back to him if you wanted to, could you? No, because he’s in charge. The top dog. If you ratted— suddenly all that you’ve worked for goes down the drain because he said so. You see? That’s how authority works. You have these unspoken rules that RULE US. Like, what makes Barbra Gordon better than you? Huh? Who put her in charge? _Authority and rules._ I want to challenge those things. I want to reveal the true desires of these fake goodie goodies. I wanna see Gotham’s true wild cards.” He grinned his classic grand grin, and my hands were squeezed. “We could rule this city, Harley. You and I. No one would be over us.”   
Right then, the waitress came over and placed down a tall glass of strawberry milkshake. Joe took it and slid it over to me, like a gift. His words were circling through my brain as I was allowed to take the milkshake from him. Everything sounded like madness. Any sane person would have probably had thoughts of calling the police on him or something, but I was the complete opposite. The excitement laced in his voice and the sparkle in his eye drew me in, and like a drug his words were addicting. Yes, it was crazy, but it was also exciting. And to know that I’d be with him at his side made it all the more better. 

“You just have to do one thing.” His tone turned serious. His movements were slow, but he pulled out a strange contraption from his coat pocket. It had a black button on it. “We don’t have a lot of time.” He glanced at the clock before burning his gaze back towards my skull. “A minute- forty-five to be exact.”

“Until what?” The words left my numb lips, pulling away from the straw of the milkshake. I could barely hear any of my surroundings anymore. I couldn’t even hear my heart beating, but I knew it was going 100 MPH. 

He paused just a second for dramatic effect. “Until this place blows sky high.” The words were so nonchalant, so plain, they almost went right over my head. But he took me in his arms when I almost spilled the drink all over the table, and his hand went over my mouth to muffle the gasp. “Now, now— pumpkin— it’s up to you. You press this button and it won’t happen, I promise. But if you choose not to, then, well, we’re bacon, so we better leave now.” He lifted up the remote, which I instantly snatched away. But something in me stopped me from pushing the button right away. I glanced around at the peaceful cafe. A woman was talking on the phone. A group of boys our age were hanging out in the corner. Innocent enough. It made me wonder who they all really were. If something horrific happened, what would they do? It was what Joe wanted to test out, and so I began to understand. But then that’s when a mommy and a daddy and their baby walked through the front entrance. Joe saw my immediate falter, and took my hand to drag me out of the cafe, not wanting to waste any more time. I glanced back at it, watching the parents sit their child in a high chair.   
“Five, four—“ Joe started to count, his smile growing.  
“God damnit.” I hissed, and pressed the button. I didn’t want to disappoint him, but I couldn’t do it. The kid didn’t do anything to deserve that. I hung my head to the ground, unable to look towards Joe— but that's when, BOOM! An explosion rang out, shaking the ground with force. I shot my head up to see the bank across the street exploding in fire right before my eyes. Behind me, Joe was doubled over in hysterical laughter. My knees became jelly when I could actually see money flying in the air. “I thought….”

“I said the _cafe_ wouldn’t blow if you hit the button. I never said anything about the bank!” He explained in a cackle. 

My skin grew hot from the fiery breeze across the street. People scattered everywhere, running in the opposite direction of the burning building. One man took this opportunity to steal someone’s abandoned car, another woman was trying to collect money that wasn’t burnt from the street. I glanced down to the button in my hand, completely stunned. My eyes watered, but it wasn’t from tears of horror, it was from all the ash.   
“Look at them.” Was what I said, watching another person rob an innocent bystander. “They’re like animals. Something goes wrong and.....” 

“...And all those _rules_ go out the window!” Joe grinned, coming up beside me. He extended his hand, and I placed the detonator in his. “Do you understand now?” 

Yes. Yes, I kinda did. And a small smirk began to grow on my face as I turned to him, draping my arms around his shoulders. “Does this mean I’m a criminal now?”   
In return, he put his hands on my hips— his fingers digging into my skin. Joe licked his lips and nodded with that excited glint in his green eyes. “Afraid so, pumpkin. How does it feel?” 

“Liberating,” I replied, running my hand through his hair. If I was with him, and only him, then this was what I wanted to do. If he was a criminal, then so was I. I had no remorse or guilt, I was a true monster. But I understood it, his whacky philosophy. You had to become broken in order to see clearly. And that’s what this city needs. It needs to be broken, reborn— _no more complacency._   
Joe smiled happily at me, reaching up to tuck a piece of my hair behind my ear to say, “I think it’s time we show Gotham its true colors, hm?” Then he grabbed my hand to hold in his. 

“Let’s do it, baby.” I felt myself grinning, and I skipped along next to him as we left the crime scene.


	14. Chapter 14

Third Person POV  
 _Somewhere on the other side of Gotham._

DING DONG! The door bell to a grand mansion was rung once, then twice, prompting a lengthy song of chimes to echo through the gigantic house. This house belonged to Ozzy Cobblepot. He was currently sitting in his game room, playing pool with his butler while he puffed on a cigar his mother didn’t know about. He didn’t care if the doorbell was ringing, despite how bloody annoying it was. But it wasn’t his problem. His butler typically would answer it, but because he was playing a game with him, the poor man was probably scared to disobey his master and leave. Ozzy hoped one of the maids would just answer it, but to his dismay, his mother called through the sound system: “Ozzy please answer it for me!”  
The young man groaned when he heard that, and threw his billiards cue down onto the table in frustration. “Don’t you fucking touch anything.” He hissed to his butler with a pointed finger as he jogged out of the room. DING DONG! DING DONG! The bell rung a third time, which only infuriated the boy even more. He was short, but his fury was large; that was Ozzy’s one and only problem at school, his anger. One time he threw his notebook at the teacher, causing her to break her glasses. His parents needed to pay off the faulty so that she wouldn’t make a stink or ruin his grades because of it. Ozzy stomped up to the huge door and opened it, huffing, “Alright, what do ya want?” 

_“Oswald my angel, don’t tell me you’re not happy to see me?”_

Even though he didn’t go to Gotham High, and rather went to that prep school with Bruce, he knew exactly whose voice that was. He looked up with alert eyes to see Pamela Isley standing there. He was shocked to see her still wearing a hospital gown with bare feet, but there was something else very off about her. Maybe it was how her hair seemed brighter, redder, or that her eyes shown a glowing neon green, or that her skin had a complimentary _green_ tint to it! “Pam…Pammy, dear what….what happened to you?!”

“Something fantastic.” She smirked, her voice sounding more seductive than usual. “I just had to get out of that ridiculous hospital room. Those idiots have no idea what’s wrong with me.” Her green eyes flashed maliciously in remembrance at them, and she flipped her thick healthy hair over a shoulder. Ozzy blinked his wide blue eyes a few times, feeling completely flabbergasted. He made sure to glance around to see that the coast was clear before asking, “So you came here?”   
Pamela shrugged, choosing at this moment to saunter right into his home. Tracing a finger around what might be a priceless vase, the hospital escapee smiled to herself. “I couldn’t go to Selina, because I don’t trust Bruce, and you know…the two are inseparable. And,” she began to prowl around Ozzy, and the short young man felt his forehead heat up in sweat. “Speaking of inseparable, I can’t go to Harls either. She’s fallen for a complete psychopath.”

“Joe Napier, right?” He piped up, even though he felt like he would get smacked if he spoke out of place. But for goodness sakes this was his own home! How could she have so much power over him all of a sudden? He was like wiggling jello. “I’ve heard rumors about him.” 

Pamela rolled her eyes at that, nearly snorting at the repeated line. She paused behind him, and placed her hands on his shoulders, running them up and down towards his chest. “I’ve heard rumors about you too.” Her lips barely graced his ear. Ozzy felt himself sweating even more now, and he reached up to run a hand through his blonde hair. What was this? Was she playing with him? He needed to stop being putty in her hands. Ozzy narrowed his eyes with determination, and pushed her hands away, swiftly turning to face her. “What rumors?” His voice was stern, the best he could muster.   
She huffed when he stepped away from her, but she kept her confident smirk and placed her hands on her hips. “Oh ya know, that you’re not as innocent as you like to pretend to be. You strut around wearing Cobblepot with pride, but in reality your family is in it with Carmine Falcone. Once daddy died, your mother had to take over robbing priceless paintings for Mister Falcone. But that wasn’t just it. I know the repay wasn’t enough for her; the black market was the next best bet. Don’t tell me the family club isn’t a front for—“ 

“ENOUGH!” Ozzy fumed, hands balling into fists. He had to hold himself back from smacking her in the face. “Where did you hear that nonsense?!”

She grinned at that, knowing all well that it was far from nonsense. “I didn’t just come straight here from the hospital. I needed to try out my new….powers. Obviously they’re working well.” 

The young man had no idea what the hell was going on now. He had half the thought that he was either dreaming or that she didn’t come from Gotham General but from Arkham! “Pamela, what in the blazes are you talking about?” For a second, he had to slick his hair back again to compose himself because he felt like he was slowly unraveling in front of her. She was the crazy one here, not him. Maybe he shouldn’t have let her into his house. But Pamela was never usually like this. Sure, she was sexy, but he knew under that skin was just a moody plant-nerd. She began to creep towards him again, slowly, causing him to step back to try to stay away. “Its called black mail, angel. I needed to get some dirt on you so that you’ll help me. I need a bit of your money.”   
As he felt his back hit the wall behind him, that’s when he couldn’t take it anymore. “Alright, get the FUCK out of my bloody house you cheeky bitch!” He screamed, his eyed growing dark in fury, but thats when she grabbed him to swing him into a deadly kiss. Ozzy almost felt his heart stop in that moment; but what was scary was that he felt like he began slipping to a strange lucid state after she pulled away from him. He couldn’t even talk, and his limbs felt heavy.   
“I’m sorry Ozzy.” She began with a pout. “I didn’t want to do that, but you just wouldn’t listen to me.” She reached forward when he started slumping down and caught him by the arm. “Why don’t you show me where all the green is?”  
Ozzy felt himself nodding, and he moved forward, unwillingly walking towards what he could only imagine was where the safe was. It was like she had him under some sort of spell! “Oh and Oswald.” Pamela continued, “Next time call me Ivy.” 

-  
 _In the same affluent neighborhood_

The steak was cold, red, and slimy as it was pulled out of its package. Bruce Wayne placed it against his swollen eye with a deep sigh. This was just going to be one of many bruises in his future, and he knew that; but he was currently bothered by the motionless lump laying in the bed two doors down. He brought Jason home from the hospital just last afternoon, and he was still in poor condition. Bruce met Alfred in the hallway. The butler had a slight frown on his face, and his eyes cast down to the floor. “He’s insisting on finding his assailant.”   
Another sigh escaped the young billionaire’s mouth when he heard that. That’s all Jason was obsessing over, and to make things worse he kept having nightmares about it too— waking the whole mansion up with screams in the darkness. Bruce gave a little silent nod, then entered Jason’s room cautiously. The sun began to set, so the room was relatively dark. He went over and flipped on a lamp at the side of the bed to the distaste of Jason. The patent nearly hissed at his friend, placing a hand over his face.   
“How are you doing?” Bruce asked, choosing to sit on the edge of the bed gently as to not hurt his own aching bones. Jason turned away, lifting his scarred arm over his head now. “Better than you.”  
Bruce rolled his eyes and pressed the steak closer to his bad cheek to feel the fleeting coldness the best he could. “Don’t lie to yourself. You just woke up from a coma, Jason. You need to heal.”

“Bullshit. I’ve healed enough. I can’t stay in a bed forever.” His darkened blue eyes held a dangerous fire in them as he spoke, and his friend could see this a mile away. Bruce often wondered if it was ever a good idea to drag Jason along into this vigilante-superhero mentality with him. Sure, being Robin had nothing to do with what Joe did to him…. But this anger, this rebellion he saw was pushed to the deep end ever since he dawned the suit. He feared that this power might go to his head, and that he’d use his talents for revenge. As if to mark his thoughts correct, the window suddenly cracked open and Selina crawled into the room. She carried her black backpack with her and unzipped it to take out a small vile, handing it over to Jason.   
“You owe me. It wasn’t easy to get Johnny to cook this up for me.” She said, placing her hands on her hips to watch him examine the strange milky liquid in the small bottle.   
Bruce instantly stood. “What the hell is that? Selina, what are you doing?” 

“She’s helping me.” Jason interjected, sitting up more in bed. He wore no shirt, and the many bruises and red scars were prominently scattered all over. “It should give me my energy back right?” He double checked, popping the cap off to take a sniff of the strange stuff. 

Selina nodded, taking the moment to slink over to her boyfriend to drag her hands around his waist. Peering into his eyes, she knew he was going to lecture her, but she said, “Don’t say a word, Bruce. I feel bad for him, and I don’t like Joe. I think he’s a freak.” 

“I’ll toast to that.” Jason lifted the vile in the air before downing the whole thing in one go despite Bruce’s initial attempt to tell him to not do that. A shiver went down his spine, and he immediately slid to sit up at the edge of the bed as if to puke, but he never did. Bruce stepped away from his girlfriend to examine the state of his friend. “What did you just take, Jason?”  
The broken boy simply glanced down towards his hands, taking a deep cool breath. “Let’s say….an energy drink. Something to help get me back on my feet sooner than later.” A sly grin grew on his face at that, and Bruce almost felt like slapping it off. This was not good, but he knew he couldn’t force Jason to turn the other cheek. And there was Selina; he’d have to have a long conversation with her about her choice to aid him in this revenge trip. As if to piss him off even more, the girl sauntered over to pat him on the butt before heading to the window side. “Don’t blame Harley for any of this, little birdie.” She pointed out, shooting Jason a deadly look to tread lightly.   
“Harley….” He muttered, as if tasting the name on his lips. It brought pain, but also made the fire inside of him rage. His hands clutched into fists, like Joe’s neck was being snapped in half by them. He knew what he had to do. And that began with the Halloween Dance tomorrow night. 

-

First Person POV  
 _Gotham High - the next day_

The school was a ghost town today. There was a weird feeling in my stomach as I walked the empty halls; I wasn’t sure if it was because women’s intuition or that spicy microwave burrito I had for breakfast. But something wasn’t right. None of my friends were even in the cafeteria when lunch rolled around, which made it worse. I assumed Pammy was still in the hospital, and of course Harvey too, but Johnny was missing, as well as Selina. Even fucking Barbra Gordon was a no show! Were people skipping just cause there was a dance tonight? I couldn’t figure it out. But at least I had Joe.   
“Maybe we shouldn’t have come today.” I wondered as we picked on our terrible school lunches. He was off in his thoughts as he kept stabbing his jello with the spork, so I decided that he didn’t hear me; but when he began speaking, I perked up. “We don’t ever have to come back.” He turned to me and raised an annoyed eyebrow. “Ever think of that?” 

“But it’s school, Joe. Of course we have to come.” I nearly started laughing at that proposition. He wasn’t laughing though, and his jaw muscle twitched with frustration. He shifted his position so that he was straddling the row to face me, and his fingers jittered on the table. “No. _No._ Have you learned nothing from yesterday?”

I rolled my eyes at him, growing a smirk despite his mood. “Oh shut up, Joe.” I learned a lot— about him, about myself, about the god damn world. I wasn’t going to let him just throw that comment at me. But he growled in return with a clenched jaw, and rolled his eyes back at me. He was clearly irritated enough to be antsy again, so he kept shifting around in his seat.   
Then he finally snapped back, “Stop saying that fucking name. I hate it.” Now he was just saying anything to show his frustration wasn’t he? I gave him a funny look then shook my head as I went back to picking at my food. 

“So, ah, what happened yesterday?” Eddie asked, wearing an uneasy smile. He had been siting across from us the whole time, I just forgot. When his voice floated through my ears, I glanced up to him with a mysterious smirk. “It’s none of your beeswax.” 

He shook his head with a tsk. “No fun, no fun. This must be the petty table.” 

Right then an object came wizzing though the air to smack right in the side of his head. Eddie groaned in pain as he rubbed his throbbing skull, and I watched as the weapon of choice rolled off the table. It was Joe’s apple. He simply snickered to himself, probably glad we was able to inflict some sort of pain on another but his smile melted into an annoyed line when he locked eyes with me again. Any thought I had of laughing at poor Eddie was now gone. I flinched when I felt Joe’s hand clutch the back of my neck; at first, his callous thumb gently brushed against my skin, but as he went on to speak his grip painfully tightened. “It was nice chatting to you Ed, but I just forgot, Miss Quinn and I have an appointment and we gotta bounce.” He stood, yanking me to my feet with him despite my utter confusion.   
“Oh, and ah,” he continued with a hooked grin, “Enjoy the apple.” Then, he brought me to the south side of school and into the girls locker room. No one was in there except for us, so it was the perfect opportunity for him to scold me if he wanted, which I guess was exactly what he wanted because I soon found myself pressed up against the concrete wall with a hand to my throat but it surprisingly wasn’t that tight. “You don’t tell me to shut up.” He sneered, obviously quite snubbed from my earlier comment. I couldn’t help but to giggle at him for being such a drama queen. I placed my hand on his chest. “No need to be so upset puddin.” I pouted, “I was only joking.”   
His eyes were hard and dark as he stared at me, bubbling over with a devilish fury. I began to slide my hand gently up and down his chest to calm him down. “What’s a matter?” 

“What’s a matter?” He muttered in a mocking tone, and stepped back to put space between us. The sudden lack of intimacy between us was startling. He craned his neck back and stared at the ceiling as he anxiously strolled in a small circle. When he stopped, he prodded his scar with his tongue. “I think it’s, ah, you.”

“Me?” I raised my eyebrows in complete shock. He simply nodded. 

“I don’t think you’re ready. I mean, do you even love me Harley?” He raised his arms up from his sides.   
Hearing that made my heart crumble my chest. His eyes were so serious, and so in pain. I nearly stumbled forward towards him with extended arms to at least touch him, but he moved further away. “Is that even a question? I’d do anything for you, baby. Really, I mean it.”   
He leaned up against the wall, setting his head against it as he looked at me. He kept a poker face now, and I didn’t know what he wanted from me. My heart was beating so fast I thought I was going to throw up. “Joe?”

He closed his eyes in annoyance and raised his finger at me. “I want you to stop calling me that fucking name. I _hate_ it. And you calling me that is disrespectful, yeah?”   
I felt myself nodding just to please him, but I still had no idea what was going on, and it scared me shitless.   
“And frankly I hate this school.” He continued, “I wanna do something... I....want you to do it. But... the way you’ve been today I just don’t think you have it in you. It makes me sad, Harley. All this time and I thought you finally grew up.”

“What do you want me to do?” I asked, my mouth dry. 

There was a twinkle in his eye, but he kept a deadpan glare as he said, _“I want you to blow up the school.”_  
Hearing him say those words sent a dagger through my heart. I never expected that he’d ask that much of me. I’ve killed with him, mostly for self defense so far anyway, but I had grown okay with that. I mean, so far I’d convinced myself that I’d be able to do anything for him now. I was a changed person after all, and I loved him so badly. But this? I grew stiff, silent. All my friends went here, and school used to be such a big deal for me. I was a straight A student. As I gazed at Joe’s dark eyes and the hooked scars on his face, I knew that deep down he was right about everything. School should mean nothing to me now. We’re bigger than that scene, we’re meant to rule Gotham.   
Joe ran a nonchalant hand through his green dyed locks. “I wanna do it tonight, during the dance.”  
He was the devil wasn’t he? A Cheshire grin spread across his face at the thought of how hard his proposal was for me. I felt tears spring to my eyes as I imagined Pammy and Eddie explode into a million pieces. My mascara began to burn my eyes, so I turned away from the grinning demon to put a hand to my face. 

“You don’t need any friends.” His persuading tone slithered into my ears, as if he was reading my mind. “I’m all you need. Think about all we went through, Harleen, all the sacrifices I made for you. You don’t want to throw that all away now, do you? Because if you’re just going to go back to being a nobody then—“ His voice dropped a few octaves, rumbly and threatening, “I’d rather just kill you.” 

“Would you?” The words were whispered as I leaned against the rim of the sink bowl. I didn’t dare look up into the mirror in front of me. 

The sound of a body shifted weight and a thick presence approached me from behind. “Of course,” he admitted, “I’d be doing you a favor. Wouldn’t want to see you become one of those fake goodie two shoes. Wouldn’t want to see all your talent wasted. I’d rather have you smiling in your grave than hiding a frown alive. And besides,” He slinked closer, placing his hands around my arms. “How could you live without me? I’m apart of you pumpkin, like it or not.”   
I nearly shuddered under his touch but remained stiff as I thought things over. He was always right, and it frustrated me. I wiped away my tears, so that he wouldn’t be able to see any of the damage he was doing. I never wanted to disappoint him, never. And that’s what my mind kept telling me each time I tried to rationally talk myself into leaving the situation. All my thoughts just lead back to how much I utterly loved him. He was like a guilty pleasure for me ever since the beginning. And I know that might be selfish, but up until I first met him, I never did anything for myself. I wore a mask like the rest of them— I served my father, and put on a happy face despite the pain. It wasn’t real, my smiles were false and my passion was lackluster. But now I didn’t need to pretend. I had someone that actually ignited my flame. I slowly turned around to face him, eyes cast to the ground— but I made myself look into his expectant eyes. “I’ll do it.” He began to grin again at that confession, but I placed a finger to his lips. “But not for you. Because I want to, understand?” 

Joe continued his smile, leaning forward to close the gap between us to embrace me in his strong arms. “That’s my Harley-girl.” His hand trailed down the back of my head softly, down my back. His lips pressed against my neck, leaving burning marks each kiss. The sudden intimacy was much needed, and I felt myself melting into his hypnotic touch. I was relieved, honestly. I ran my hand over his defined shoulders, feeling the silky fabric of his collared shirt. “I love you.” I moaned. He lifted his head, titling it back slightly to kiss me on the lips— it was a long, steamy kiss that resurfaced the butterflies in my stomach. His hand clasped against my jaw as we fell deeper with passion for one another; he actually let out a possessive growl when I retracted for a moment to breathe, and he snatched me back to kiss me further. It was when I began to run my hand through his hair that he took my wrists suddenly and spun me around. I was shoved against the sink as I could hear him undo his pants. My face lit up in red blush, noting that anyone could just walk in at any second (yet, I was certain Joe would just kill them), but I didn’t object. “What do you want me to call you?” I whispered, glancing over my shoulder at him.   
His lips twitched in frustration at my question, but he still replied a curt, _“J.”_

_“You got it, Mistah J.”_


	15. Chapter 15

The next thing I knew I was happily skipping down the vacant halls of the school. A thick wad of bubble gum sat in my mouth as I chewed it blissfully. I wore Joe’s trench coat, which felt extra heavy— sticks of dynamite lined the inside and bounced against my body as they were holding onto the fabric by a rough duck tape job. I had no guilt, or fear, I felt like I was on top of the world. Besides, I knew I could handle myself if I got into trouble, and I want to prove to myself that I could definitely handle this. Of course I gave myself pressure to not let Joe down, but this was more than that. When I stared into the pink painted concrete walls of the girl’s locker room while we fucked, I discovered that I hated _them_. I hated people. People like Barbra Gordon, Principal Al Ghoul, and even Bruce fucking Wayne. Right off the bat, they had their minds made up about me, about the world; they have their own stupid ideas about how things should be and how to act. Oh, they were complacent alright. Bruce could get drunk, blow me off. The principal could give me lustful eyes. Barbra could be a fake-ass bitch. And what? Where were the consequences? There were none! Joe was right, they sleep with both eyes _closed_. And that’s a problem. But now it was my time to disrupt their natural habitat, the school. Maybe the Mayor will realize the school was just meant to be ashes. Joe blew it up once, and it should have stayed that way. This was phase one. Phase two: “We’ll introduce some anarchy.” Joe grinned, leaning up against his locker. It looked barely used, and didn’t even have a lock on it, so when he banged his fist on the metal, the door sprung open. “Pit the people up against each other, make them chose who’s worthy and who’s not. But that’s for later, I need you to be able to do this first.” He reached into the locker to pull out his coat and helped me slip my arms into it. When I saw the dynamite I nearly snorted, “You already had this in your locker?”

“Why not?” 

Then he went on to explain the plan. _Go to the boiler room and plant the explosives. There are directions in the left pocket to tell you how to set the timer._ After that, he left me to do my duty. He said he had his own plans to attend too. So here I was, feeling confident in myself with a suicide jacket and a brain full of madness. As I skipped down to the boiler room, I couldn’t help but to glance into each classroom while I rushed by, seeing the unsuspecting students learning some dumb shit they’ll simply forget in another half an hour. The scene pulled a smile to my lips. What a bunch of disillusioned fools! However, the last classroom to the right caught my interest so much that I flew to a complete stop. Through the little window on the door, I could see part of my old Sociology teacher— ya know, the one I used to sleep around with?— unnaturally groaning to himself while he sat behind his desk alone. My eyes slid to narrow slits as I scanned over the situation. And without thinking, I barged into the room. “Enjoying yourself dickwad?!”  
Suddenly, he stopped and a look of pure fear was washed over his gross sweaty face. There was the sound of a bang under his desk and a silent _“Ow!”_ that followed. The teacher glanced down under him, then frantically tried to compose himself the best he could as I slinked closer. 

“H…Harleen! What are you…what are you doing here?” He squeaked. 

I kept my narrowed eyes on him. “Just give it up. Who do you have under there, another one of your makeshift whores?” Before he could spit out a lie, I screamed, “Get her out of here!” I guess my tone was scary enough that the young blonde he had hidden popped out from behind the desk and ran out of the classroom, trying to cover her mortified face. I shook my head in disappointment, “You disgust me. Did you promise her another one of those ‘prestigious scholarships’ too? Or was it tuition free this time? You lying weasel.” 

Now he actually got mad at me this time, his face growing red. “Listen Harleen, you…you out of all people have no right to talk to me like that!”

I was an inch away from his desk now, and I leaned against the table to tower over him. “No right? You have no right to offer things to poor girls like her in exchange for _this_.” I gestured underneath the desk with a scowl.  
He raised his hands innocently. “She actually likes me, okay!”  
Oh god, I nearly barfed. It was almost sad that he might think we did what we did because we actually _liked him._ If looks could kill, she and I be’d both dead already— and I’m not saying that as a compliment. My fingers fished through the supply cup, and I pulled out a big pair of silver scissors. “I think you gotta problem baby.” I began, choosing to crawl on top of the table now towards him. He was simply paralyzed with fear. “And it begins with that lying little tongue of yours….”  
Soon there was blood everywhere despite me trying my best surgery skills. I blame it on him squirming to much! But now I was lugging his passed out carcass towards the supply closet without trying to get his red stuff all over me. He was heavy, but I managed to push him in there, quickly slamming the door on his sliding frame before he was able to fall out. With a huff, I wiped my slightly sweaty forehead and glanced at the clock. I still had time, my little escapade only took ten minutes total. I dropped the bloody scissors back into their cup and picked up his tongue that sat neatly on the desk. It was shorter than I remembered. I slipped the slimy muscle into one of Joe’s many coat pockets as a memento, then the next thing I did was clean up the blood stains that were left on the floor. I had to be speedy, so I only hoped that I was able to pick up everything. I was soon out of the room like nothing ever happened, careful to make sure I locked the door from the inside as I left. I resumed my giddy journey to the boiler room without any new distractions. The instructions were surprisingly self explanatory, and the TNT was promptly strung together just as he wanted. The timer read seven hours and counting, it should go off just as the dance was coming to an end. Hopefully once Barbra won Scream Queen, it’ll go off just then and explode her into bits. With a grin, I pulled out my phone and sent a selfie of me and the dynamite to Joe. See, I was able to do it! I pulled my legs into a pretzel as I sat on the cold, damp concrete floor, and I also texted Joe that: _I have a present for you too ;)_  
The only response I got from him was: _When the next bell rings I’ll be there to pick you up._  
I frowned a little, noting the lack of admiration on his behalf, but I simply assumed that he was too busy at the moment probably doing something serious. So I got up and began to walk to the boiler room door, and that’s when I nearly tripped on my own feet when someone else opened the door in front of me!

-

_Back in the affluent neighborhood— Wayne Manor._

Jason had been missing for most of the day and it made Bruce grumble to himself as he poured a glass of vodka, making sure Alfred didn’t see. Good thing the stuff was clear, so that way he could just lie and say it was water. He gently shut the liquor cabinet before wandering out of the dining room towards the main parlor. The television was on, and detective Gordon was speaking about the current state of Blackgate Penitentiary. Bruce could see the optimistic twinkle in the older man’s eye and it made him feel thankful that at least there was one trustworthy cop in town. The vodka tasted strong going down his throat but it calmed his upset nerves. The whole Jason situation really bothered him to the core. But what was he going to do? Jason wasn’t his son or brother. He was a friend, a good one at that. Bruce just didn’t want to see him go down the wrong path, and if that were the case, he couldn’t help but to feel partly responsible. He was the one that introduced him to the concept of dawning a mask and cape— a rebellious personality for an already troubled teen. Bruce sighed to himself quite loudly in the spacious room that there was almost an echo. Right then, Alfred came strolling in, but he wasn’t alone.   
“Master Bruce, you have a….guest here to see you.” He announced, causing Bruce to quickly down the rest of the alcohol before turning to see who the guest was. He was surprised to see the tall, green haired Joe Napier standing there behind Alfred. The teen held a smile on his face, half helped by those hideous scars, and gazed around the room as if it all gave him amusement. Alfred gave Bruce a raised eyebrow before exiting, allowing the two to chat privately.   
“Your daddy had a great taste in architecture.” Joe spoke first, brushing past his host to help himself to the velvet loveseat in the parlor. He plopped down a bit too harshly for the delicate material, and made himself comfortable. He ran a finger down the arm of the chair and inspected it like he had collected dust, but he was just feeling the fabric. “Velvet? _Kinky.”_

Bruce already felt the anger slowly rising within him at that insensitive comment. He placed his glass on the coffee table and stood before Joe, arms crossed. “Why are you here?” He wasn’t in the mood for this. “I’m surprised Alfred even let you in. I should kick your ass for what you did to Jason.”

Joe’s green eyes twinkled at the aggressive tone given to him, but he just grinned wider and held his hands up innocently. “He had it coming for him. And besides, he had what I wanted.” He licked his scars, taking a moment to shift anxiously around. “But I didn’t come here to talk about bird brain Todd, no. No, I came here because I heard you’ve been spreading some…rumors about me, hm?” He raised an eyebrow, observing what Bruce would do. The young billionaire also raised his brows, but shook his head, beginning to reply, but Joe jabbed his finger accusingly at him. “Don’t deny it, Brucey-boy. No, no, you know exactly what I’m talking about.”

“Honestly I don’t.” Bruce bit back, wishing Alfred never let him in. 

Joe rolled his eyes dramatically and growled in frustration. “Todd spilled his guts, quite literally, but when I asked him about the shit he was spreading about me, he told me he got said shit from you!” He paused, noting how Bruce still wasn’t following, then he huffed and explained, “I did not grow up in Arkham.” The words sat heavy in Bruce’s mind for a minute. Yes, he was sure Joe did. He was sure his parents disposed of him there as a child. He was sure Joe showed signs of manic behavior — he looked at the file — so that’s why they kept him. But Bruce wasn’t sure if it was wise to challenge him on that.   
“I did not live in a padded cell. I mean, what type of life is that?” Joe continued, cracking himself up. But when he was done laughing his eyes grew cold and he stood suddenly. “I don’t need the one percent spreading false information about me.” 

Bruce narrowed his eyes in return, but then he simply put on a fake smile and casually chuckled. “Gossip is gossip, what can I say? Listen, sorry for the hard feelings.” It took every ounce of his being not to confess the actual truth. But he had to be careful. Joe would get suspicious on how he knew all that information in the first place. So instead, it was time to put on the egotistical party-boy masque to cover his tracks.   
Joe frowned but seemed to accept the weak apology. “Just watch your mouth Wayne.” 

“It won’t happen again.” Bruce began to nonchalantly lead his guest back towards the front door. “If you don’t mind me asking, what, ah.... what happened there?” He tapped his cheek in reference to Joe’s scars. Those things were just horrifying, and only supported Bruce’s theories about him even more.   
The green haired guest raised an eyebrow at the question but then rolled his eyes with a carefree chuckle. “Fishing trip. Let’s just say I gotta bad catch.” As he finished his last sentence he stuck his finger in his mouth like a hook.   
Bruce grimaced to show his sympathy, but inwardly he knew it was just another lie.   
“Oh by the way,” Joe added, already halfway out the door, “You gonna be at that Halloween dance tonight?” There was another one of those amusing glints in his eye, and his tongue shot out to prod at his left scar. 

“I’m Selina’s date, so unfortunately yes.” Bruce shrugged, but then he crossed his arms firmly across his chest. “I’m not sure if Jason will be there, but you better stay the hell away from him. Cause if you don’t, I won’t be as nice as I’ve been right now.”

Joe hummed to himself, growing a devious smile. “I don’t think you need to worry about _me_ coming to _him.”_ With that cryptic note, he closed the large door behind him, leaving Brice there alone with his thoughts.


End file.
